Summer at Hogsmeade
by CommanderValeria
Summary: Co-written with animalwriter NOT SLASH! SB/OC and SS/OC. A short story set in the same universe as "Don't Leave Me" and "The Serpent's Kiss". Dinah and Severus come for a summer visit with Lucy and Sirius in Hogsmeade.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello everyone! This fanfiction is written in equal parts by me, Commander Valeria, author of "Don't Leave Me" and animalwriter, author of "The Serpent's Kiss". I'm posting this on my profile but it was written by both of us in a joint effort so please don't forget to leave reviews for both of us! We really do appreciate them :)

This story it is set in the same universe as "The Serpent's Kiss" and "Don't Leave Me", which tell the tales of two new Hogwarts Professors, Dinah Samson and Lucy Ketteridge, who find themselves romantically involved with Severus Snape and Sirius Black, respectively. The two become friends, but the friendship is marred with difficulty along the way because, as we all know, their significant others do NOT get along with each other. By this point, though, we know that Severus and Sirius have made an uneasy truce. We're also pleased to say Dinah and Severus have married, while Lucy and Sirius are engaged.

It's now the summer of 1999 and the Snapes are coming for a visit to what Lucy and Sirius have termed Hogsmeade House. Lucy and Sirius find themselves in a less than pleasurable position when their friends arrive at the door.

If you are curious about the history of the characters and their back stories please check out both of the main stories, because we won't be going into them in too much detail here. There are a few important developments for both couples in this story, so if you are reading the main ones you should also definitely check this one out.

Finally, disclaimer: We don't own Harry Potter!

Chapter 1

Lucy was finishing up an apple, in the sunny kitchen of her Hogsmeade home, when the guests they'd been expecting knocked on the door. "Sirius, can you get that?"

Her fiancé stood up from the chair he'd been sitting in, "You know if you keep eating like that you are going to get fat."

"Shut up. I'm hungry," she said, grabbing another apple. She was feeling rather moody so she wasn't going to tell him yet again that she'd never had to worry about her weight before and she doubted she'd suddenly gain a hundred pounds overnight. On top of all that she was becoming more and more paranoid that she was actually pregnant. She didn't know who she could talk to about this and, like other secrets she was keeping, the longer she kept this from others the bigger the problem got.

* * *

><p>On his way to the front door, Dinah and Severus knocked again. They could knock as much as they wanted. His mother wasn't here and he wasn't going to rush either. He wasn't dreading this visit as much as the previous one…of course he'd had more notice of this one too. As he opened the door Dinah was poised to knock again, "Good to see you Dinah," he turned to her husband, who was scowling, and gave a sharp nod, "Severus." Looking them up and down he could see why Snape might be wearing that expression. They were both in Muggle clothes, Severus in a white Muggle shirt.<p>

"Sirius." Severus's scowl disappeared for about a second as he nodded back, and then it was replaced on his face.

Dinah just chuckled and rolled her eyes, "Don't mind him. He's mad because I made him go watch a Muggle film with me."

"It's appalling the way those Muggles waste their technology," Severus complained, "Exactly what about that was any better than a play?"

She sighed, and then smiled at Sirius, "It's nice to see you, too."

He stepped back to allow them in, "Come on in. And I think it's the visuals, more versatility with the background sets and all that."

Severus just shrugged and tugged at the white dress shirt Dinah had probably dressed him in. "Still wasteful." He and Dinah stepped into the hall.

"Bedrooms and one of the restrooms are upstairs. The living room's right through there, as you know, and the kitchen is beyond that," Sirius said, gesturing to the appropriate areas. "Lu's in the kitchen eating…again."

Dinah raised her eyebrows, "That sounds like something I would do."

A small grin replaced Severus's scowl for a second when he said, "Clearly."

"Lucy's been eating a lot more than usual lately…" Sirius said, frowning. He didn't want to make it out to be a bigger deal than it was, but he was worried about her sudden change in behavior."Though I probably shouldn't have told you that. Women can be so funny about their eating habits being known."

"And some women don't care either way," Severus said.

"Oh, all right, so I like eating and I don't care who knows it," Dinah waved him off, "Come on, let's go say hi to my new eating partner."

When the trio entered the kitchen Lucy was stuffing the last of the apple into her mouth, "Emhi," she tried to say.

Dinah actually laughed, and then covered her mouth, "Uh, sorry. But was that supposed to be 'um, hi'?"

Lucy nodded her head vigorously. She took a moment to swallow before she could say, "Yes, sorry. How have you two been since Hogwarts let out?"

"Very good, thanks," she looked to Severus, who was still scowling, and then sighed, "Oh, please look more cheerful, will you?" She sat down at the table near Lucy and grabbed an apple of her own, "I seem to be not doing well by any of the men in my life at the moment," she grinned. "Severus is mad because I dressed him in Muggle clothes and made him go see a film in a Muggle theater. And Slinky is mad at me because he doesn't like his name." She rolled her eyes, "I told him to get over it. I always wanted a pet snake named Slinky and besides the name totally fits him." She took a bite of her apple.

"Oh, the name really does. I've only seen the Muggle films you've shown me but I've liked those." She looked thoughtfully at the diminishing bowl of apples, obviously unhappy that there were only two left.

"No. You don't want another one. You've already eaten five…in the last two hours."

"Hey, apples happen to be an excellent source of fiber and can reduce the risk of disease," Dinah defended.

Sirius threw his hands up into the air, frustrated, "Fine, I give up. Eat one if you want. Here," he said reaching into the freezer, "eat this too." He sat a carton of ice cream in front of Lucy.

"Getting a bit hot-headed, aren't we?" Severus muttered, and Dinah elbowed him. "I was simply making an observation," he retorted, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him.

Lucy just handed the carton back to Sirius, "No. Thank you. I don't want ice cream."

As Sirius snatched the ice cream away with an exasperated expression, Dinah changed the subject, "So, any special plans for this visit?"

"Not really, no. I mean we've all been to Hogsmeade enough that we know it well," a small smile spread across Lucy's face, "Although we could show you guys the place where we're thinking of getting married."

"Oooh, that would be great!" Dinah exclaimed, "It's around here?"

"Yeah, it's by the lake, about fifteen minutes down the road or so," Lucy said, trying to be mysterious.

"The lake, huh?" Dinah smiled, "I wasn't sure if we were going to go around, but I brought a bathing suit. I thought maybe we could spend a day at the beach sometime."

Lucy nodded, "That sounds like fun, and with all the students gone for the summer it'll be nice and quiet."

"All right," Severus agreed, and stood, "Now if no one minds I think I'm going to take our things up to the bedroom and get out of this ridiculous Muggle outfit."

Dinah laughed, "Then maybe you'll be less grouchy with me."

"My anger with you is already to beginning to subside," he said with a small smile, then leaned over and gave her a quick kiss before grabbing their things and heading upstairs.

Dinah grinned at Lucy after he'd disappeared, "I finally got him to wear the white shirt. He's frustrated but I'm feeling especially triumphant today."

Lucy smiled, "I noticed, but I didn't want to say anything in front of him and make him more self-conscious," she turned to Sirius, "Why don't you go make sure Severus doesn't stumble into our room? Odds are he'll find one of the guest rooms but still, it'd be nice."

"Sure. I suppose if you're willing to leave us alone together there's little chance of us killing each other," he walked out of the kitchen, still a bit annoyed over Lucy's new eating habits.

* * *

><p>"Nice not to have to worry about that anymore, isn't it?" Dinah said, as Sirius disappeared after Severus, and then flushed, "I suppose I'm partly responsible for that, but the er... means by which it came about are rather embarrassing now."<p>

"Yeah," Lucy said, a bit uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken. They'd talked about the slapping incident before but not much. "I wish it hadn't come to that but in a way I'm glad. It helped him talk to me about what he did. We sort of worked through it," she smiled, "His issues are a lot less complex then mine."

Dinah nodded slowly, and shrugged, "We all have our issues. The important thing is to work through them when we can," a small smile formed on her face, "No matter how bad it gets it always works out."

"You're right. Now, is there anything new with you two? Besides the white shirt I mean. Any purchasing of grand mansions or travel to far off lands?"

Dinah laughed, "Not quite," and then paused for a moment, looking thoughtful as though she were about to say something. Then she shook her head and continued, "Just enjoying a nice quiet life together for the most part. Severus is still getting used to living in a 'Muggle-infested area' as he calls it. Of course, Spinner's End is all Muggles too but they don't really come out of their homes ever." She laughed; "Anyway it's sort of our compromise. Since we live in the dungeons in Hogwarts during the year then we get to stay at my house in the summer." She grinned, "That and we both know his house can't possibly hold all of my stuff."

Lucy wanted to laugh but held herself in check. "That's one of the reasons we've kept Grimmauld Place. That and I can't just let a house with all that family history go. Even if it is a bad history. Now, that you're living in the dungeons, it's a much farther walk if I want to come visit you. My little area of the castle is all but deserted. It'll just be me and Dora; for the first half of the year at least."

"I know. But I'll make sure we visit often. And then I could always send Godric over to keep Dora company, from time to time," Dinah teased.

"If those two keep it up I'm going to end up with kittens," Lucy said, not really teasing but not exactly displeased either.

"Well, we can share the kittens," Dinah said.

"I'm not worried about it really," Lucy smiled and shook her head, "It comes with having a female cat I suppose but we can share if you'd like. They'd be half yours after all." Lucy looked up at the ceiling, "Those two have been awfully quiet up there. Think we should check on them?"

"I'm sure they're fine," Dinah said, "Sirius probably just pointed Severus in the direction of the room and then just wandered off on his own. But I should probably go up - if we're going to wander around Hogsmeade or anything I should probably be in ordinary witch robes."

"Sounds reasonable," Lucy sighed, "Sorry I've just been feeling a little scatterbrained lately. The least little thing seems to be able to distract me."

"Hm," Dinah looked at her, "Is everything all right?"

Lucy chewed on her lip. She wasn't sure if she should confide in Dinah or wait and talk to Sirius. She wasn't even sure what she thought. "Um, yeah, I think so. Maybe I'm having trouble transitioning into summer mode. I used to have that problem as a kid."

She nodded, "Okay, just checking."

"Thanks for asking," Lucy said, following Dinah out of the room.

* * *

><p>"See?" Dinah said to Lucy when they made it to the upstairs hall, "I told you they'd be in separate rooms. Why don't you go see what Sirius is up to and I'll go change. Then we can decide what to do."<p>

"All right," Lucy said, winking, "Take your time. We're in no rush."

Dinah laughed, "We'll see." When Lucy grinned and continued down the hall she turned back around and knocked on the closed door, "Severus? Can I come in?"

There was a short pause, and then a sarcastic note in his voice when he replied, "No, you can't, it's not as if we're married or anything."

She laughed, "For your information I was asking to be polite since we're in another person's house."

"Come in."

She opened the door and stepped in to see Severus back in his black robes. She frowned and shrugged. She was used to him like this. But ogling him in the white shirt all day had been quite fun while it had lasted. "I figured I should change out of my Muggle clothes, too," she said, closing the door behind her.

A slight frown crossed his features as he looked her up and down, "That might be unfortunate."

She shook her head, "You hate Muggle clothes but you like me in them. You realize how little sense that makes, right?"

He smiled and came forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close, "Well, who can possibly account for my tastes?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed, "Not me."

"Mm," he leaned closer to her, "Well, either way, I suppose you should change and we can go back downstairs. Lucy and Sirius are waiting."

"Perhaps," Dinah grinned and stepped back, "She told me to take my time but I sense she was joking. Too bad."

He chuckled, looking a bit embarrassed, "So you say. Now change clothes."

"Yes, yes," she changed into her witch robes and they went outside to find Lucy and Sirius standing in the hall having a rather heated argument.

"I didn't say you were fat! All I meant was that your eating habits seem to have gotten a bit out of control!" Sirius yelled at a visibly upset Lucy.

"I heard you say I was fat and then you handed me ice cream! That was embarrassing! I know I've been eating a lot more lately but I can't help it! I'm hungry _all_ the time! Do you think I want to eat like this? But rather than eating the three gallons of ice cream like I want to instead I'm eating more apples than any normal person should!"

Dinah exchanged a glance with Severus. This seemed a bit extreme just for a little appetite issue. An intervention seemed necessary. "So!" she exclaimed, and they both turned to her. She smiled, "If you're done arguing maybe we could wander around town, do some shopping, stop and have some butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks or something? Our treat, since you were nice enough to have us here."

"Um, yes. That'd be nice. Thanks," Lucy said, grabbing a tissue.

"Sorry about that," Sirius apologized, looking embarrassed.

"That's all right," Dinah waved it off, "Fresh air will help. And we can talk about something else like the, uh... weather."

"Ignoring Dinah's lack of creativity," Severus said, and she shot him a glare before he continued, "We should leave if you're both ready."

"Yeah, we're ready. Let's go," Sirius said, grabbing Lucy's hand. She didn't look too pleased about that, but she didn't pull away either.

Outside, Lucy looked around and commented, "It's quite warm don't you think?" with a slight smile at Dinah.

Dinah giggled, "Yes, it is. But the sun's out. That's nice."

"You're _actually _talking about the weather," Severus rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I am, and it's a very interesting and deeply philosophical subject for discussion. Come on, let's go shopping. Is there anywhere you guys would like to stop?" she addressed Lucy and Sirius.

"Well there's Scrivenshaft's, Gladrags…I don't find Dervish and Banges all that interesting but Sirius likes to go there every so often, or there's Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. A new bookstore's recently opened up, called Magical Mutterings. Not a very good name I know but the shop's not bad," Lucy said rapidly.

"If no one minds I would prefer to avoid the Weasley shop," Severus said.

Lucy laughed, "I don't mind. I usually only go there to visit and neither one of the twins are here now. Sales slow down in the summer you know, so they left the running of the place to one of the employees."

"Oh, I don't know," Sirius said, "They sell good quality stuff in there. Might be worth checking out."

"Quit teasing," Lucy said, smiling and tugging on his arm. Things seemed to be cooling off between them now that they were outside and distracted.

Dinah smiled, "That's all right. Actually, I'd like to go look in the bookstore. Since it's new."

"And this time I won't spend a month trying to pay you back," Lucy smiled.

"Yes," she laughed, "Although I didn't mind. Wow, that seems like ages ago. Probably because I feel like half my life should have passed in that time... kind of did, really," she shared a small smile with Severus and looped her arm into his.

"Hey," Sirius murmured, pulling Lucy closer and leaning down to whisper, "I'm sorry."

Lucy leaned her head against him, "I'm sorry too." A bit louder she said, "Magical Mutterings is just right over here."

Dinah nodded, glad that they had apparently worked the issue out for the moment. It was much nicer to see them happy together than arguing. And of course, Lucy did still seem to have some emotional issues. "Okay, let's go." They all headed to the bookstore.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When they opened the door to the bookstore a little bell tinkled indicating their presence to the people working within. Lucy and Sirius ducked as a book about birds of Britain went flying by. "Watch yourself in here. The books are pretty wild," Lucy said, knowing her remark was on the cheesy side.

Dinah caught the book swiftly in one hand and opened it, "Nice. Hey, this is kind of interesting. It has both ordinary and magical birds." She stepped to the side to allow a catalog of Quidditch balls to roll by.

"Is there any particular section you want to look at?" Sirius asked, "It's set up a lot like Flourish and Blotts so…"

Lucy perked up, "We should go to the historical fiction section!"

"Don't you own that entire section already?" Sirius teased.

"Not quite. I want to stare longingly at them while I resist trying to buy one and bring it home. I've got five books at home I've yet to read."

"Well, a book is better than something else to eat," Sirius muttered.

"What was that?" The air around the four of them was getting tense again.

"Let's go!" Dinah cut in, "I'd like to see what books you don't already have."

Lucy dragged the others over to her favorite section in the store. "Well I don't have this one," she picked up a book about Nicholas Flamel. They barely had a chance to look at it before she replaced it on the shelf and picked up a book about Eleanor of Aquitaine, "I've got others that are about her but not this version. Oh, and there's that one over there, and that one, and that one up there," Lucy kept pointing to various books up and down the shelves.

"Um, okay..." Dinah said, and it looked like she was trying to keep up as her eyes wandered over the shelf, back and forth to the places where Lucy pointed. Severus just looked amused. "How can you figure it out so fast?" Dinah asked.

Sirius laughed, "We spend a lot of time in this section. I mean _a lot_ of time."

"Fascinating," Severus said, "Since I can't seem to keep up with this frenzied historical fiction search I think I'm going to go look at more educational materials."

"Oh, come now," Dinah cut in with a grin, "You know Lucy teaches a class. Historical Literature has plenty of education value."

"Besides, as I do teach a class these _are_ technically education materials," Lucy smiled, "But if you want we can go to another section."

"Are you buying anything from this one?" Dinah asked.

Lucy shifted from foot to foot, "Mmm, maybe just this one," she grabbed the Eleanor of Aquitaine novel.

"Is she very interesting?" Dinah leaned over to look at the book as they all wandered towards the middle of the store. "You said you have other books about her."

Lucy nodded, "I think she is. She was the Queen of France but got a divorce from her husband because they were too closely related. Then she married the future King of England Henry II who was at least as closely related to her as the King of France had been. Some people also think she once had an affair with Henry's father…and another with an uncle of hers is possible too. Henry ended up locking her in a castle of his because she conspired with their sons to overthrow him. You might recognize two of their sons' names. King Richard the Lionhearted and King John, the one who signed the Magna Carta."

Dinah blinked, "Yes, those ring a bell. But what a complex life those ancient royals had. And all that inbreeding," she shook her head, "Brings to mind some of our own society's problems."

"Hm," Severus snorted, grabbing a book on potions and flipping through it, "That's not something that's going to change soon. Although," he took a moment to smile at his wife over the book, "You _have _started to help."

"You should check out some stories about Charles II of Spain. He'd help make a case against inbreeding. His mother was his father's niece if you can follow that. It was one of at least three uncle/niece marriages that I know of. Not to mention cousins marrying each other like they did a lot back then. I once read somewhere that after about 1550 outbreeding in Charles's family ceased. I might have a fiction book on him but it might be worth finding a good biography," Lucy informed them.

"Wow," Dinah shook her head again, "Perhaps I should use some of that information in my classes next year. It's only slightly off-topic. Then again, I wonder if next year..." she trailed off, looking thoughtful, and seemed to give Severus a quick, sidelong glance, but his nose was now buried deep in the Potions book and so he didn't notice.

"Is something going on this year? I haven't heard anything," Lucy asked. If there wasn't something going on it seemed like an odd comment to her ears.

"Oh, no!" Dinah said hurriedly, "Or well, yes actually. I was just referring to the Triwizard tournament."

Lucy laughed, "Oh, right. I'm glad they're doing it again. I think it would have been fine last time if Voldemort hadn't come back."

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it. And the Yule Ball," Dinah grinned.

"That'll be fun!" Lucy was excited about the possibility of a party. She looked at Sirius, "You'll come right?" before he could answer she turned to look at the other couple, "He can come, right?"

"Um," Dinah looked at Severus and shrugged.

Severus put down the book, "I don't know. Last time no one had any desire to invite someone who wasn't from Hogwarts. But I doubt it would be a problem. You'd have to talk to Minerva about it. If Dumbledore was still around..." he trailed off, and then turned back to the bookshelf, grabbing something new and burying himself in it.

Dinah sighed, "Yeah. I'm sure he would have said yes. But I'm sure Minerva will as well. She can be strict, but she's kind. And I'm sure it will do no harm to bring a date. After all, the only real danger to Sirius at Hogwarts has been significantly... subdued," she tilted her head in Severus's direction and he looked up from the book just long enough to smirk at her before going back to it.

"That's true enough. Of course," Lucy snuggled into Sirius's side, "we'll be married by then, so maybe we don't need permission. Besides, I think that'd go over better with the student's parents than if I were to be bringing my boyfriend."

"Who says the students' parents have to know?" Dinah joked, and then frowned, "Well I hope I'm able to find a dress for it."

Lucy chewed on her lip, "Yeah, me too. You know we should start looking now. It'll probably take us that long to find something we like anyway."

"Oh," Dinah paused, "Well, I don't really think I need to start looking now. I mean there is literally so much time. But we could go to Gladrags if you wanted to look."

"Hmmm, well…"

"Go, Lu. You can leave the two of us alone now. Besides you said they wanted you in for a fitting the other day anyway."

"Okay, I…okay," she set the book she was going to buy aside and turned to Dinah, "Are you all set or did you want to get something before we left?"

"I think I'm good," Dinah said, and then turned to Severus, "I guess we're off to do some girly shopping. Are you good staying here?"

He nodded, "As Sirius said, we can be left alone now. Besides, I've found something interesting in this book that I might use in a class. Although," he moved the book and met her eyes, "I don't know why you need another dress. You have plenty."

"Nothing fancy enough for the Yule Ball. I mean, I could wear a bridesmaid's dress from when I attended Rosa's wedding a few years back, but that's silly. I want to buy something new."

He shrugged, "I don't have a problem with it. You just seemed hesitant."

"Just about buying this early, that's all," Dinah's face was oddly flushed and Severus must have noticed too because he was giving her a weird look.

"All right then. Sirius, if you feel like buying something," she tapped the book she'd placed on the shelf. "If not that's fine. I don't really need it. We'll meet you two at the Three Broomsticks in an hour or so." Lucy led the way to Gladrags, asking, "Are you sure you don't even want to look? Looking doesn't mean you have to buy."

"Well, I suppose it can't hurt to look," Dinah agreed, although she still looked somewhat thoughtful. But she perked up when the two of them entered the clothing shop.

When they entered the shop a middle-aged women came to greet them. Lucy spoke before the other woman could say anything, "Afternoon Nerissa. You sent word you wanted me to come in for a fitting?"

"Yes, glad you finally made it. And who is your friend?"

"Oh, sorry! This is Dinah Samson…actually Dinah Snape now. She recently married and I'm still used to calling her by her maiden name. Dinah this is Nerissa Hastings. She runs this shop and can make pretty much anything you might want."

"Nice to meet you," Dinah said politely. "I'll have to keep you in mind for the future."

"Thank you. Lucy your dress is hanging right back there," she pointed to a back room, "Just slip into it and I'll start fitting it out here. If you need help getting into it just let me know."

"All right. I'll be right back, Dinah." It didn't take long for Lucy to re-emerge from the fitting room. She'd been worried the dress wasn't going to fit at all but it had. It was strapless and fitted down to the hips where it flared out slightly. She thought the lace on the bodice and the small amount of embroidery near the hem was gorgeous herself, but she was anxious to hear what Dinah thought of it.

"Oh!" Dinah exclaimed, "Lucy, that's lovely. I especially like the embroidering at the hem. So you two both designed this together?" she looked from Lucy to Nerissa.

Lucy beamed. She was thrilled someone besides her and Nerissa got to see it and that they liked it. "Um, sort of. I'd looked at gowns and when I came here Nerissa and I talked about the kinds of things I'd liked in other gowns and she came up with this! There's a jacket to go with it too since we'll be outside for the ceremony."

"Nice," Dinah smiled, "I think I remember you saying the wedding was in December sometime?"

"Oh, yes! We're planning on doing it over the holiday break. December 18th. Easier to take time off and there'll be fewer students to worry about, though more than I was thinking there'd be originally since I forgot about the Tournament when I picked the date; and it should be rather pretty with all that snow."

"Right..." Dinah hesitated, "Um, are you sure a jacket will be enough? Will you need a winter coat or something? Having a wedding outside in winter... Oh, not I'm judging or anything! I'm sure it'll be pretty, but I've never heard of such a thing before."

Lucy smiled at the way her friend was trying not to offend her, "I'll probably be pretty cold, but the jacket's lined in fur. It has long sleeves, comes up to my neck and down to my waist. There's embroidery on it that matches the hem and that matches Mum's tiara. That and the actual ceremony's only supposed to take anywhere from fifteen minutes to a half hour. After that we'll be in the Great Hall so we should warm up quick enough. It's kind of unconventional I know, but it's something I've been thinking about for awhile."

"Well, then that makes more sense," Dinah said, "Actually it sounds really beautiful and romantic. I can't wait to see where you're going to hold it."

This time Lucy couldn't help but laugh. She'd thought Dinah might have picked up on her saying the reception was going to be in the Great Hall, but perhaps not. "At Hogwarts, silly! Down by the lake. We'll be having the reception in the Great Hall. Any students that are staying over the holidays will be invited of course. There'll be more than I was planning on now that we're going to be hosting the Yule Ball but that's okay. The more the merrier."

"Oh," Dinah flushed, "Well, no I understood that. I meant the exact place. You said you were going to show it to us."

"Um, right," Lucy said, blushing too. "It's a lovely spot, big enough for friends and family to have places to sit but not too big. Uh, I was going to ask you to stand up for me, but Sirius only wants Remus and Harry to stand up for him and there's Tonks and Ginny…I'm sorry! I really wanted you to be part of the bridal party but my fiancé had to be in prison forever and then he died and…" Lucy felt horrible about the whole thing and she worried Dinah would be hurt.

"That's okay," Dinah waved it off, with that slight decrease of eye contact that came with something that was mildly disappointing and yet you also understood it. "After all, I didn't have anybody stand up in mine. It was so small and everything, and Severus didn't really... have any friends he would have asked."

Lucy nodded, "I was hoping you'd understand. Besides," she paused to raise her arms so that Nerissa could fit the bust, "this way you can wear whatever you want and won't have to stand in the cold in uncomfortable shoes."

Nerissa sighed, interrupting the conversation, "I should take the waist and hips in about an inch or so, but I'm going to have to let the bust out again."

Lucy chewed on her lip, "Go ahead and let the bust out, but what happens if I gain weight? Can you easily let it out again?"

"I doubt you'll gain before the wedding. Most lose weight with all the stress and worry and such but yes, it can be let out again. It's really not that difficult. Just a couple reversal spells, a resizing charm, a little wand work to get the sewing done. Don't worry yourself over any of it. That's what I'm here for after all," Nerissa assured her.

Dinah nodded and seemed to be considering something; "Nerissa, do you design dresses for the Yule Ball often? I was thinking about having something... made."

"I don't do custom orders for the students during that time. It would just take too much time, but I'm willing to do some for the professors," the seamstress said, eyeing Lucy, "I suppose you'd like me to make you something too?"

"That'd be great! This way we know we won't be wearing the same dress and we can make sure we won't clash."

"That would be great!" Dinah nodded agreement, "When you're done with your fitting we should look around and see if anything gives us ideas."

Nerissa waved towards a rack, "Go ahead and start looking now. I've just got to check the length and then she'll be done."

"Dinah! You should check out that green one over there," Lucy pointed at the far end of the closest rack.

"Oh, that looks nice, and Severus would probably like the color. It would match my snake necklace, too," Dinah wandered off to look at the green dress.

"So she's married to Professor Snape? I just can't picture that man married."

"You know him?" Lucy hadn't really pictured Severus Snape shopping in Hogsmeade but he had gone out to buy dress robes for his wedding…perhaps he'd come in here.

"He's come in here once or twice to get some robes fitted. I don't know him well by any means."

"He's different now," Lucy murmured.

"He must be if he's gotten married. Well," Nerissa sighed, "you're done for now. Why don't you go change and you can start looking around too?"

Lucy reluctantly changed and started looking through the rack next to Dinah, "What do you think about these two?" She held up a light blue dress and a silver one.

"Hmm," Dinah looked the dresses up and down, "I really like the cut of the blue one. And the color of the silver one would be nice for the Yule Ball. Although I guess blue would be a good color for it, too."

Lucy laughed," Well that certainly makes everything clear."

She smiled, "Well couldn't you always have Nerissa take the cut of the blue one and make it silver... or maybe both colors!"

"I can see it now. The cut of the blue dress but in silver with a blue sash, perhaps with the ends of it trailing down the back. Oh, that should be pretty."

She nodded, "It's a great idea. Now what do you think of the green one close up? I think I like it, although I might want to change the sleeves," she held the dress up to herself.

Lucy grimaced, "Yeah those sleeves are…not good. I say either have it done sleeveless or maybe do one of those loose, flowing types of sleeve. You know what I'm talking about?"

"Yes, I think I'll definitely do one or the other. But there's no need to decide that right now. Also, I really liked the embroidery at the bottom of your dress. I wonder if I could have something similar done to this one? Not exactly the same, of course."

"I'm sure you could do something like that. Nerissa did the embroidery on my dress so I don't see why she couldn't do some on yours. I guess that's something to ask when we get ready to actually buy one," she looked at the time, "Has it been that long already? We might want to start heading over to the Three Broomsticks if you're ready."

"Okay, let's go," Dinah put the dress back and they bid Nerissa farewell.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The men had already gotten their seats and were drinking a butterbeer and fire whiskey in a silence which seemed to satisfy both of them when Dinah and Lucy came back in.

"What did you buy?" Dinah asked Severus, plopping down next to him and pointing to the bag at the foot of his chair.

"That potions book," he said, taking a sip of the small glass of whisky and following it with a drink of water. "Find anything?"

She nodded, "It's green."

He smirked, "And you would like me to say what about that?"

Dinah laughed, "You'll like it. Have you two ordered yet?"

"No, not at all," Sirius said, lifting the mug to his lips.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Ignore him. He's being sarcastic. Do you want anything? I can go get us something from the bar."

"Um... I think I'll have a cherry syrup and soda." They all stopped and looked at her. "What?"

"Have you been spending too much time in the company of Professor Flitwick?" Severus asked.

"No, it simply sounds appetizing right now," she retorted, flushing. "Besides, I'm less thirsty than I am hungry. Perhaps we could get some chips for an appetizer."

"I'll be right back then. Did you want just plain chips or chili-cheese ones? Chili cheese sounds good maybe I'll get both."

"Both sounds good, and get lots of ketchup!" Dinah replied happily, while the boys just stared at them. "Oh, and mustard!" she shouted as an afterthought when Lucy had gotten halfway to the bar, "I like to mix the two together and make an orange sauce."

Severus shook his head after Lucy nodded and walked the rest of the way, "You aren't quite making it easy for Lucy."

"What do you mean?"

"The food thing," he nodded in Sirius's direction. The other man gave a short reply nod, looking agitated.

"Oh, sorry. But I _am_ hungry."

"As usual," Severus said with a small, amused smile, finishing the last of the fire whiskey and moving on to water for the rest of the time, as he usually did.

Lucy came back, a waitress following her with a tray, "I got us ketchup, mustard, and mayo for the chips."

"Brilliant! Mayo and mustard mix well together too."

"I thought so!" She turned to Sirius, "Don't worry I'm not going to eat that much. What did you get at the bookstore?" she nudged the bag with her foot.

"Oh, just a couple books to add to your collection and one or two for me."

"You're sweet," Lucy looked incredibly pleased he'd thought of her, "You know you can read my books too."

"I would but you're overprotective of them."

"I am not! I just asked you not to write in them, break the spine, dog ear the pages, mess up the covers or just generally mistreat them."

"And that's why I don't read them," he said squeezing her hand. It didn't seem to be a fight just the normal friendly bickering that couples sometimes did.

Dinah smiled, "I try to keep my books nice, too. Although the spine inevitably gets wrinkled. But for some reason manga are robust to that problem. They always stay like new."

"Hmm. I wonder if it's a different type of binding or something?" Lucy portioned out some chili-cheese chips and placed them on one of the small plates they'd been given.

"Perhaps," Dinah agreed, splitting her plate with half chili-cheese chips and half regular ones, then squirted a blob of ketchup, mustard, and mayo. Then she added another blob of mayo mixed with mustard and a fifth blob of mustard mixed with ketchup. She used a chip to mix up the latter and then bit into it, noticing that between herself and Lucy they had left only about ten chips of each type remaining for the men. "Well, um... I hope you two weren't very hungry," she shrugged, taking a sip of her cherry syrup and soda.

Sirius just laughed, "Don't worry, we can always order more if we want, besides I did eat before the two of you arrived."

Lucy glared at him, "Hey, at least the apples were healthy. I'll admit these chips aren't but they aren't large portions either. I only have the chili-cheese ones Dinah has both kinds."

"Well, Severus is used to my gluttony," Dinah offered as an excuse, eating a chili-cheese chip.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insinuate you were being a pig or anything," Lucy flushed. She took some mayo and plopped it on the side of her plate to dip the chili and cheese covered potatoes in. "This makes it worse I know, but it just tastes so good. Anyway," she said, perhaps trying to get the conversation away from food and eating habits, "What are you two going to do when school's back in session? I mean are you both going by Professor Snape? That could get a bit confusing for the students but at the same time those are your names."

Dinah giggled, "I'm going to go by Professor Snape as well. I know it _is _a little weird and confusing, but I think it might be fun, too."

Severus smiled; "I told her I didn't mind if she stuck with Professor Samson while at school but she insists on being called Professor Snape."

"It's because I'm so happy to be married to you," Dinah smiled.

"Yes, well," Severus flushed slightly and took another drink of water.

Lucy smiled, "That's nice. I'm glad I'm not going to have to deal with that issue though. It's going to be weird enough going from Professor Ketteridge to Professor Black in the middle of the year."

"Wait till you have to start signing your name on things."

She shook her head, "I don't even want to think about it. I have enough problems with the date after New Years."

Dinah laughed; "Well, we'll think about something more fun then.I remembered what you said last year at Christmas and brought my Twister game, along with Monopoly again." She grinned, "Severus blatantly refuses to play Twister, but the rest of us could if you'd like."

"Why won't you play?" Lucy asked Severus, tilting her head to one side and looking very curious. "Isn't it fun? It looked like fun when I looked at it before."

He frowned, "Did you look at the game? It's for children and it's..." he shook his head and went back to his chips.

Dinah laughed, "Well, let's just say it's not a game that I can picture Severus playing. Ever. But that's fine, he can be the caller."

Sirius grinned, "I can't imagine Severus playing any game. But if you say he can be the caller I guess I'll have to trust you."

Dinah glanced at her husband, but if he was in any way affected by them all talking about him he wasn't showing it. She smiled. Typical Severus. "It's a pretty simple role, but I kind of know what you mean. You all ready to go back then? I seem to have finished all of my chips."

Lucy downed the last of her pumpkin juice, "I'm ready when you are. I want to place this Twister game."

She laughed, "All right, then let's go play it."

* * *

><p>Lucy stood in the middle of the living room using her wand to push some of the furniture towards the walls. Dinah had said they'd need a large space to place this game with the colored dots. "Is this enough room do you think?"<p>

"I think so," Dinah said, holding the game box in her hand as Severus stood behind her and glared at it. She placed the box on a nearby chair and lifted the lid, pulling out a thing with giant colored dots on it and opening it up.

Lucy grabbed the other end and helped her lay it out on the floor, while Sirius pushed a few more things out of the way…just in case. "Well, this looks interesting. Do we each pick a color, like in Monopoly?"

"I pick red!" Sirius immediately called out.

"That's fine, you can have red," Lucy told him, "If we have to pick colors I'd pick blue anyway."

Dinah giggled, "No, no. This game is quite...different from Monopoly. Here, I'll demonstrate," she shoved a stiff white square with more colors on it into Severus's unwilling hands and walked to the side of the board. "Okay, spin and call it!"

"Do I have to?" Severus almost whined, although not quite. Truly whining was not something that Severus Snape would do.

"Yes, you have to!" Dinah ordered.

He sighed, "Fine." He spun a little black thing around on the board and then announced in irritated monotone, "Right hand. Blue."

Dinah leaned over and put her right hand on a blue dot.

She looked kind of funny all bent over like that just to touch a blue dot, but Lucy thought that was probably what made the game fun. "Okay I think I get it. Whose turn is it now? Or do we all have to put our right hands on that blue dot like you?"

"We all do," Dinah said. "And then Severus will spin again and we put whatever extremity on that colored dot. And, well...whoever keeps from falling over longest is the winner."

"All right," Lucy said. She had a feeling this game was going to get uncomfortable. She looked at Sirius and shrugged. Both of them bent over and placed their hands on top of Dinah's, Lucy's hand in the middle.

"Um..." Dinah faced them, looking rather perturbed as Severus snickered under his breath in the background, "No, you pick your own dot."

Lucy laughed at herself. These Muggle games could be so complicated. She removed her hand and picked the blue dot that was the last one within her reach and put her right hand on it. Sirius put his hand on a dot that was less of a challenge to reach. Now all three of them stood, bent over, butts in the air, waiting for Severus to call out the next move.

Severus sighed and spun it again, "Left foot. Red."

Lucy picked up her left foot and moved it to a red dot. Sirius moved his left leg so that it was between hers. "Trying to make it some kind of sexual thing already?" she asked. Sirius just shrugged, which looked rather odd from their upside down positions.

"Yeah..." Dinah chuckled, "It really is more of a kid's game, as Severus said at the Three Broomsticks. I mean it's fun, but as adults positions can sometimes be awkward. Or good, depending on who you are." She moved her leg to a safe red dot next to her blue one.

"And who you're in the position with," Lucy added. "After all I might find this less sexual if it was your leg there and not his."

"I should hope so," Dinah grinned.

"You're facing the wrong way, Dinah," Severus said, idly pushing the black spinner thing around on the board.

Dinah stretched her head up to see him, "Rather look at my butt than my face, would you?"

"I can't see your face, you're staring at the dot," was Severus's only reply. "Left hand. Green."

"I'm morally opposed to touching a green dot," Sirius announced.

"Oh, shut up and just play the game," Lucy said, laughing and planting her hand on the green dot next to Dinah's.

"Right foot. Yellow."

Dinah sighed, "Great, I seem to have unwittingly pushed myself into a corner. I couldn't possibly move anywhere out of this line right now," she moved her right foot so that she alternated hand, foot, hand, foot in a single line across the board. She strained her head to look at her husband again, "Are you sure you're calling that right? We should have had to move one of the extremities we already had down by now, I would assume."

"You want to call it?"

She growled, "Forget it, just keep going."

"Well, this is awkward," Lucy said. Both of Lucy and Sirius's legs were intertwined and they were butt to butt on the board, with Dinah and Lucy's heads next to each other.

"Right hand..." Severus let his words hang in the air for a while.

From her strained position, Dinah looked up to glare at him, "I am seriously going to kill you."

He smiled, "Green."

Now Lucy and Dinah's hands were intertwined. Sirius got to put his hands next to each other but their legs were still wrapped around each other. Lucy turned her head and looked at Dinah, "I don't think my situation has improved much."

"Not really," Dinah grinned, their heads nearly pressed up against each other. "I, on the other hand, am feeling rather relieved. This still isn't comfortable but at least both my hands are in a position where they can support me.""

"Left hand. Red."

"That's impossible!"

"That's what the board says!"

"Well, spin it again!"

Severus just gave his wife a look and Dinah sighed. She let go of her left hand, on the green corner dot, and attempted to shove it back between her legs to reach the far-off red dot. After flailing it a couple of times she fell over. She laughed and stood up, "Well, I guess I did that to myself. The whole straight line thing. But I still don't trust you with that board," she snatched it from Severus, "I'm calling now."

"Um, do we have to attempt left hand red too?" Lucy asked, "'Cause I'm pretty sure we'll fail."

Dinah shrugged, "Well, in the interest of having one winner and not three losers, I guess I can re-spin it." She spun the black thing, "Left foot. Blue."

This time Sirius went first. He moved his foot one dot over but Lucy put hers on the other side of his. "Ah, that feels better."

Dinah frowned, "Now I see how tempting it is to shift the spinner where you want it to go."

"Are you insinuating that I-"

"Hush, I'm spinning," Dinah spun, "Left hand. Blue."

"Butt to butt again…I suspect this is a game geared for a man's enjoyment," Lucy said, placing her hand next to her foot on blue.

"Now, don't lie. You like it too," Sirius teased.

"Well, maybe if we were alone…"she left her thought unfinished, not wanting to say this might be a good naked game if you could get the spinner to spin on its own and announce the results.

"Would you like me to bewitch the spinner so that it works by itself?" Dinah joked, reading her thoughts.

Lucy laughed, "Maybe later. I don't think that's really meant for a group to play like that."

Sirius looked mildly amused; he likely knew what they were referring to and Severus just rolled his eyes, almost looking resigned to the topic at hand. It was an interesting expression on the normally stoic professor's face.

"Oh, we would leave the room and behave more traditionally upstairs, so you'd be totally free," Dinah teased, "Besides, Severus is rather the more traditional type. Unfortunately, however, I don't know that such a spell exists."

"That's just as well." Lucy wobbled when she picked up one of her hands to scratch her opposite arm.

"Right hand. Red."

"I'm thinking this wasn't the best move for me," Lucy grumbled after she fell. She did hate to lose.

"Congratulations, Sirius," Dinah said, "And that was your colored dots game. So, I have to know. Was it what you expected?" she grinned.

Lucy shook her head, "Not at all, but it was still a lot of fun."

Dinah smiled, "I had a feeling you'd be surprised. Well, I'll help you put the furniture back, and then we can do whatever."

Lucy bent over, folding up the mat they had used to play the game. "Anything in particular you were wanting to do?"

Dinah shook her head, "Just the beach, but we should do that tomorrow. It's getting late today."

"Yeah, I don't mind swimming in the dark sometimes, but I'd rather not tempt anything living in the Black Lake to eat my toes…or me for that matter."

"Nope," she agreed, "So did you have other plans? I assume we'll have dinner a bit later or something, but we could play Monopoly, or wizard's chess, or just talk..."

Plopping down on the couch, Lucy said, "Well, only two people could play wizard's chess. I don't mind Monopoly if you want to play that, but it could lead to a repeat of last time," she smiled recalling the bickering over who would be which piece.

"I could be the dog, and then you have to pick something else," Dinah joked, "On the other hand, since Sirius got to be the dog last time, it would only be fair to let Lucy have a turn."

"Well, Severus, would you like to play? I'd hate to play another game and leave you out," Lucy said. She didn't have a strong opinion either way but she'd feel rude if he didn't want to play and sat there watching the rest of them do so.

"I can play Monopoly. It doesn't require any weird body contortioning or childish behavior."

Dinah rolled her eyes, "Twister was fun, admit it. And yes, Severus has played Monopoly before."

"All right," Lucy said, pulling the coffee table into a good position for game playing, "Let's get it set up then."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"So..." Dinah was sure that asking this question would be dangerous, "What pieces are we all going to be?"

Lucy spoke up, surprising Dinah when she said, "I'll be the top hat! It's fancy," she smiled.

"Great," Dinah smiled, "I'll be the thimble again. I like that one. Severus is usually the boat," she stuck the boat in front of her husband. "Sirius?"

"I think it's obvious I'll be the dog again," he said, placing it on the "Go" space with the others.

Dinah forced herself not to roll her eyes, and Severus was less successful, but luckily Sirius didn't notice. Sure, the dog was available but he certainly jumped on the opportunity to take it, and after Lucy had been so gracious in selecting the top hat. But it seemed Lucy understood. She certainly handled the situation, anyway. "Okay, I'll go." Dinah rolled the dice and landed on chance. The card she lifted up sent her to jail. She sighed, "Wonderful start. I just have all sorts of game issues today."

"My turn!" Lucy said excitedly. Her roll landed her on King's Cross Station, "Well, I think I'm going to buy that," she handed the money to Dinah, who was again being banker.

Severus rolled the dice and landed on Whitechapel Road. Wordlessly he handed Dinah £60 and she gave him the deed with a small smile. He smiled back and she felt a twinge of guilt. She should have told him already. She needed to tell him soon. But...well, maybe after the visit. Yes, she would definitely tell him then. She forced herself to turn back to the board as Sirius took his turn.

Sirius rolled and landed on Income Tax, "Great. I don't seem to be doing any better than you, Dinah," he said as he handed her the £200.

"I wish I could take this for myself," she joked, putting the money in the bank. She rolled again, "No luck, I'm still in jail."

"Did someone land in jail last time? I don't remember. You'll have to remind me what happens," Lucy said.

"You did, silly," Dinah grinned, "You get out when you roll doubles. Or if you have a get out of jail free card, which none of us currently have."

Lucy smacked her forehead, "Oh, yeah! I swear anymore I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached." Dinah followed Lucy's gaze over towards the stairs and they giggled. Dora was sneaking down them towards Severus.

Dinah pointed, "Darling, don't look now. Your best friend is coming over for a visit."

"What?" Severus shot her a confused look and then his eyes followed her outstretched arm to where she was pointing. He sighed. "Wonderful." Dora jumped up on his lap and curled up. He pet her a few times, "Different from Godric, isn't she?"

Dinah grinned, "Only with you." She turned to Lucy and Sirius, "Severus and Godric like to fight with each other. Well, play fighting, really. It's actually pretty cute. They're like secretly best buddies or something. With anybody else Godric curls up like Dora."

Lucy laughed, "Dora, as we all know, will curl up with anyone," she stood up and took the cat from Severus's lap; "Let me get her out of your way." She held Dora up to face her saying, "Stop bothering him. Some people don't feel the need to have you with them constantly. Here," she said, putting her down in Sirius's lap, "Bother him. The two of you both like to be petted. You can pet each other."

"I'd rather have you pet me, Lu."

She rolled her eyes before she pet him on the head.

"That's not exactly what I meant."

She laughed, "What? Snuffles loves it when I scratch between his ears."

"Oh, I suppose this will be okay then," he said, reaching for the back of her neck.

"No, no no!" Lucy squealed when Sirius grabbed her neck. "I don't like that in either form." Dinah must have looked as confused as she felt because Lucy went on to explain, "He thinks it's funny when I'm in my fox form to pick me up by the scruff of my neck."

Dinah giggled, "That's cute. Well, probably painful, but cute. Anyway I think that's only supposed to be done by a mother fox, and then only when the fox is still young. It's the only way to do it right."

"What are you, the expert on animal care?" Severus rolled his eyes.

"Well, I have enough pets."

"Indeed," he snorted, "You and that infernal snake of yours spending all hours of the day conversing in a language I can't understand."

"Now, now, I really think that 'all hours' is an exaggeration," she grinned, reaching up to mimic Lucy and pet his head, "And I honestly think that you're jealous."

"I am not jealous, and don't pet me!" he growled, shoving her away in embarrassment.

She smiled and turned back to the other two, who were watching them with shocked expressions, "Now, _that _wasn't something you ever expected to see, was it?"

"I didn't have much choice," Severus muttered, grasping his head with one hand and keeping the other outstretched toward her to prevent her from touching him again.

"Neither did we," Sirius said.

"That's enough," Lucy warned. "Anyway I think it's fascinating that you can talk to Slinky. Sometimes it'd be nice to know what's going on in Dora's head."

Dinah nodded, "It is truly an amazing gift. I'm just... you have no idea how nice it is not to have to hide it anymore. To embrace it. Even if it _is _only in front of friends at this point." She felt Severus's hand reach for hers under the table, and she rested her head on his shoulder for a moment, closing her eyes. Then she had to force back the guilt that threatened her yet again. She needed to tell him soon. "Oh, but," she opened her eyes and said to Lucy, "Can't you talk to some animals while in your animagus state?"

"Yes, somewhat. It's not quite the same as talking to each other, but it's similar. I've found it easier to communicate with your own kind too. Like it's easier for me to communicate with another fox than say a bird or a fish."

"That makes sense." She was half listening to Lucy, half reveling at the fact that Severus was totally fine with her leaning against him like this in front of others. Yes, he drew the line at her petting his head, but that wasn't exactly surprising. She covered her mouth to hide a chuckle. "Well, I guess it's your turn, Lucy."

"Oh! I guess it is," she rolled and ended up at the jail, but just visiting, "Looks like I've come to see you Dinah."

"Always nice to have company in a lonely jail," she grinned, then nestled her head deeper into Severus's shoulder, "Severus? Your turn."

He chuckled slightly, and it translated into a warm rumbling in her ear. It was making her sleepy. He rolled and landed on chance. "Hm. Get out of jail free," he tucked the card aside.

She sighed, "That was supposed to be _mine_."

"My turn?" Sirius asked, looking closely at Dinah, "You look tired, Dinah. You want to put the game on hold until tomorrow? I don't mind, besides it would mean I get to go out undefeated for the day."

"Well, we could," she agreed, yawning. "I'm not really hungry. Those chips this afternoon were rather filling. But we'd be going to bed pretty early."

He shrugged. "Okay, no problem," he picked up the dice and rolled. He landed on the electric company. Handing over the money, he mumbled, "This game is _not _going well for me."

"I've always said Muggle electricity was wasteful," Severus stated.

"Oh, hush," Dinah lifted her head from his shoulder to roll again, "Doubles! I'm free! Oh, _and _I am going to buy Bow Street! I am back in this game!"

Lucy rolled, landing on Whitehall, "I own a railroad and now I own Whitehall too. I've turned into quite the property owner." She laid her head on Sirius's shoulder, mimicking Dinah's earlier position, and stroked Dora, who still sat in Sirius's lap.

Severus rolled a ten and landed on community chest. The card instructed him to pick up £100 from the bank, which he smugly tucked next to his get out of jail free card.

The game continued on in a similar fashion, Sirius and Dinah generally getting the bad luck while Lucy and Severus did well. Dinah sighed when she landed in jail again, and turned to Lucy, whose head was on Sirius's shoulder again as she looked ready to fall asleep, "Well, there I go again. You want to call it a night, start up again tomorrow?"

"Sounds good," Lucy said, shooing Dora off Sirius's lap. "After all this is a never-ending game," it sounded as if she was teasing because Monopoly did take a very long time to play.

"I agree, but we haven't hit the two hour mark yet so we should continue tomorrow," Dinah smiled.

"You're only saying that because you somehow think you can come up from the bottom and win," Severus said.

"I'm not at the bottom!" she retorted, "Sirius and I haven't compared. _He _could be at the bottom."

"If you say so," he agreed with a mild smile and stood, "Then I'm going upstairs for the night." He nodded at Lucy and Sirius, "Good night."

"Night," they said together.

Lucy laughed and looked at Sirius, "We've been spending entirely too much time together."

"You sure about that?"

"No," she smiled, "Let's go spend some more time together. You need anything before we go up, Dinah?"

"Do you mind if I have a glass of water to take some Muggle vitamins?"

"No, of course not. I'll grab you a glass," Lucy said, disappearing and coming back quickly with a full glass of water, "Here you go."

"Thanks," she flashed a smile at them and followed Severus upstairs. She stopped at the bathroom to take the pills so that he didn't see. He didn't approve of her using Muggle medicine, even something as innocuous as vitamins. Well, hopefully Lucy wouldn't mind that she left the glass in the bathroom. She retreated to the bedroom.

"That was fun, huh?" she climbed into the bed next to Severus after putting on her nightgown

"Fun enough," he agreed, putting aside the potions book he had bought.

"That book must be fascinating," she joked. "You know, I hope Sirius and Lucy are all right. Wasn't it just a bit unnerving with their arguing earlier?"

He shrugged, "He has anger issues and she's overly emotional. We knew that already."

Dinah rolled her eyes, "You are so..."

"What?" he smiled slightly, "Do you deny it?"

"Not... exactly," she sighed, "Well, we had our share of issues, too."

"Don't remind me," he grumbled, tossing the book aside.

She smiled, reaching over and petting his head again, "But you'll let me do this when we're alone, won't you?"

"I'd rather you didn't," he made to shove her away again, but there was no real effort in it.

"Liar," she grinned. They both knew he loved it when she played with his hair, but it wasn't something they had to necessarily talk about.

He chuckled and took her hand, kissing it before returning it to the bed between them

"Aw, come on," she teased, "What happened to our cheerful and playful child forms?"

"They still exist. However, I have only one summer to make sure I've fully restored my reputation as the grouchy thirty-nine year old Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, and to make sure I don't give Gryffindor any points ever again," he grimaced.

Dinah laughed; "I wouldn't worry about that. You have quite a bit of practice being a grouchy, thirty-nine year old, stick-in-the-mud, scary, intimidating – mmph!" she broke off as he kissed her.

As she wrapped her arms around his neck she couldn't help but think that she wished the students could see this more often. And yet, a bigger part of her was glad that it was something that was only for her.

* * *

><p>She'd tried to be sneaky. For the last two weeks it'd worked, but not today. No, today it hadn't worked. "I'm fine. It's just a little stomach upset," Lucy insisted.<p>

"It was a little stomach upset two weeks ago. It never went away, did it? You expect me to find you throwing up in the downstairs bathroom and think you're fine?"

"I came down here because I didn't want to wake you up." Lucy had tried to keep their argument down but she wasn't sure they'd been successful when she heard two sets of footsteps on the stairs.

"Everything okay?" Dinah asked, entering the living room.

"No, everything is not okay," Sirius said as Lucy frantically nodded her head.

"I'm fine, Sirius."

"No, you're not! You've been eating constantly and now you're throwing up. That's not fine. I think we should take you to St. Mungo's"

Lucy backed up a couple steps towards the stairs, "No, I'm not going there."

"Um, look," Dinah took a step toward the couple, "I'm sure we can talk this out. Lucy, if you're sick-"

"I'm fine," Lucy cut her friend off, "I'm not going back to St. Mungo's," she pointed a finger at Sirius, "and you can't make me. You're not my father," she said before running up the stairs away from the group.

A minute later a door could be heard slamming shut. Sirius threw his hands up in frustration, "I don't know what her problem is. She's been acting strange for at least a few days now. She's not fine and when I try to talk to her about it she runs away."

"Okay," Dinah said, still trying to be the peacemaker if that was even possible. At this point he'd try anything. "Maybe I can help. I'll go upstairs and see if I can talk to her. You two just... entertain yourselves," she made a random gesture at them and then left up the stairs after Lucy.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A soft knock on the door made Lucy lift her face out of the pillow, "Go away, Sirius," she knew he'd be able to tell she was crying but it wouldn't be the first time she'd cried around him.

"Lucy?" a soft voice that was definitely not Sirius's came through the door, "It's Dinah. Can I come in?"

She laid her face back on the pillow. She didn't particularly want to talk but she supposed she owed it to her friend. After all, she was ruining their vacation. "I guess," she replied. "It's not locked."

The door clicked open and Dinah stuck her face in, "Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to be a bother. But I thought maybe you'd like to talk to somebody besides Sirius. It can... er, help to get things off your chest. But I'll understand if you say no."

Lucy rolled her eyes at the pillow. Great, now her friend was afraid of her. "You're fine…that seems to be the word of the day doesn't it?" she said laying her head sideways on the pillow so Dinah could understand her.

"Well, maybe," Dinah agreed with a sort of a lopsided smile, and then sat down in a chair near the bed, "You okay? Oh, stupid question."

Lucy closed her eyes. Did she tell her? She'd barely acknowledged the thought herself but if she didn't talk to someone she probably _would_ be carted off to St. Mungo's. Part of her thought Tonks might be the better option for this conversation but Dinah was here and she was helpful and sympathetic. "I think…I think I might be pregnant."

Dinah's reaction was somewhat of a mix of how Lucy would have expected her to react. At first her eyes widened, but when Lucy expected a shocked outburst to follow it didn't come. Instead Dinah closed her mouth and just looked at Lucy for a long time. Actually, it was getting unnerving.

"Well, all right then. Hm," she said again, looking thoughtful. Lucy wished she knew what was going on in her head. "Well…obviously this isn't what you planned, but if it's happened, it's happened and you can't go back. It is a pretty big deal, though. I can understand why you've been trying to keep quiet about it."

Lucy started crying again, "When we've talked about kids it's been more 'someday' than 'now'. And we've been _so_ careful," she sniffed. "I don't even know where to start. What to do. Mum's gone. Tonks isn't the easiest person to get ahold of anymore. Though I think if I told her what was going on she'd drop everything to be here, but then there's Remus…And as far as some of the Weasleys are concerned Sirius and I still have separate rooms."

Dinah sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, "Now, I know it sounds bad when you put it that way. But maybe it's not so bad. I mean, first of all you don't know if it's true or not. Second, you _are _engaged. And maybe Sirius... well, maybe he'll even be happy about this."

"I guess," she shrugged, "It's not that I think he'll be upset really…It's just," Lucy shook her head, "I don't even know. How does one go about finding out? I suppose that's a good place to start because I can't keep on like this. My emotions are all over the place and it's getting…well, you've seen."

"Well, there's Madam Pomfrey. I'm getting the feeling you don't want to go to St. Mungo's for some reason so I won't press it. Well, and there's-" she broke off and sighed. "Look, Lucy. There's one other sort of good thing about this."

"What would that be?" Lucy asked, contemplating how in the world she was going to contact Madam Pomfrey without anyone noticing.

Dinah smiled slightly, "Well, we'd both be pregnant at the same time."

"That's—wait, what?" she must have heard wrong.

"Yes," Dinah's smile widened a bit and she nodded, "I'm pregnant."

"Oh, that's great Dinah! It is great, isn't it? I mean neither of you said anything." If Dinah was pregnant then maybe there was some sort of Muggle device she could use so she didn't have to track down Madam Pomfrey in the middle of the summer.

"Yes, it is, it's..." Dinah looked distracted, "great. Well, but the thing is Severus doesn't know yet. I mean I know I need to tell him." She ran an absentminded hand through her hair, "I just found out yesterday morning. See, I had a Muggle doctor's appointment. And I didn't tell Severus I had one... I didn't really expect to be pregnant and he doesn't really want me to see Muggle doctors but I like my doctor and well... then I found out but then I didn't know what to say and then we had to go see the movie and then we had to come here and... yeah. You get the idea."

"And I've been horrible. I'm sorry," she hated that she might have ruined this time in her friends life.

"Oh, no you haven't been horrible!" Dinah said quickly, "Really, I've only known for a day. I haven't told Severus yet only because… oh, I don't know," she sighed. "It's kind of like with you, we always talked about 'someday' but not 'now'. I mean, I think he'll be happy. I'm sure he'll be fine with it," she sounded like she was trying to reassure herself of that fact. "We both half expected it… again, 'someday'. It's just, I don't know if he's ready this soon and if either of us are ready to tackle what it will be like at school next year, especially with all the press interest left over from the previous incidents. Boy, I really need to tell him, though. This visit has helped keep me distracted so Severus doesn't think I'm acting weird. The white shirt was an excellent distraction, too… Oh, I just _have_ to tell him soon!" she moaned, looking horribly guilty. "And after all, it's probably good we're having a child now, right? It's not like I have a lot of time. I'm not exactly young."

Lucy half-smiled, "You're asking me if I understand at all about not expecting such a thing to happen so soon? Really? And Dinah, you're not exactly ancient."

She laughed, "Well, I'm approaching an age where I really shouldn't be having children. I mean _approaching_. That's why I have to have them in the next like four years if I want to at all. But enough about me," she waved it off, "I think I could help. There are pregnancy tests in the Muggle world. They're not 100% accurate, though. I'd be happy to arrange for you to see my doctor, too. Nobody would ever know."

"Really?" leaping out of bed, she nearly knocked Dinah over in her enthusiasm, "That'd be awesome! Thank you so much! You have _no_ idea." Lucy was about ready to cry again at her friend's offer of help.

"Okay, okay!" Dinah giggled, returning her hug, "That's great! Okay, see, now this can be fun. I'm glad you feel better. Only we're going to have to figure out a sneaky way to do this..."

"We could always say we need to go buy some 'girl products'. I find that tends to keep guys from questioning things too much."

She nodded, "Okay, when would you like to do it? Now? I don't know about the doctor, but we could at least get a couple pregnancy tests. Try a few different brands to double check. I saw that in a film once," Dinah grinned.

"Whenever you want is fine. As far as the doctor goes we'd have to prove I exist somehow I assume…Actually you know we should probably do this soon, otherwise I'm going to have to come up with some sort of explanation of my behavior to Sirius."

"Well, then you know I think now might be good. They knew I came up here to try and help you out. All I have to do is say we're feeling better but we'd like to get out alone for a bit and have some 'girl talk' or something. I think Sirius is worried enough that he'll be glad for anything he thinks might help. And Severus is perfectly capable of entertaining himself with that potions book he bought. Actually, my gluttony came in pretty handy as he notices no difference in me!"

Lucy laughed, looking like she felt better than she had earlier, "Yeah, I've never been one of those girls who closely watches what she eats, but I don't usually go overboard either," she sighed and turned to her friend, "It's good that he worries like this, right? I've never had anyone worry about me the way he does. Molly and Arthur…I love them but they try to fix things for me. I'm used to them doing that, like I'm still someone that _needs_ them to be taken care of. "

"I don't think it's like that," Dinah shook her head; "He thinks you're sick. That's all. You would worry about him if he was throwing up and eating apples all the time too, I'm sure. I don't think it's a bad thing."

"I suppose you're right, though I fail to see how eating apples is such a bad thing. The quantity might be a different issue however," Lucy smirked and stood, checking her face in the mirror. "Did you want to go down and talk to them? Truthfully I don't feel ready to go down there myself but if you want me to…"

"I can go on my own," Dinah said, "I'll cook up a great story, and then we can come up here and apparate away. Why don't you get your Muggle clothes? We'll go to my house first and then go from there. Think of it as an adventure," she smiled.

Lucy grinned back, "I'll do my best. I suppose it's a good thing I'm getting to use these Muggle clothes now, though," she said, pulling them out of a dresser, "I might not be able to for a few months."

Dinah looked thoughtful, "That gives me another idea. But I'll tell you later! Right now I'll head downstairs and give the guys the heads up that we're leaving."

* * *

><p>Dinah felt her feet slowing as she walked down the stairs. Talking to Lucy had been good, but it made her all the more aware that she needed to tell Severus and tell him soon. The only questions, and that hadn't changed at all, were 'how' and 'when'.<p>

When she got to the bottom of the staircase and entered the kitchen, Severus was drinking coffee and perusing the _Daily Prophet_ while Sirius paced back and forth. The latter's eyes lit up when he saw her enter.

"Everything okay? Is she coming down? How in trouble am I?" He seemed anxious but she supposed that was normal given the situation.

"Everything's fine," she shot him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, "And you're not in trouble. But I think she and I need a little more time to chat alone, just to help her stabilize and all that. So if you two didn't mind we were going to go spend the afternoon shopping. Lucy and me, that is. I think some fresh air and female companionship will do her good."

He nodded, looking somewhat relieved, "Good. Thanks, Dinah. I do appreciate you doing this."

"Sure, I'm happy to help," she came forward and put her arms around Severus's shoulders from behind, closing her eyes for a moment. _I'm sorry I haven't told you yet_.

"Everything okay?" he repeated Sirius's earlier question as he met her eyes.

She smiled at him and lied, "Yes. You're okay with us going shopping?"

"Do whatever you have to do," his eyes still showed some concern, but he nodded, "I assume you'll be back by dinner?"

"Oh, yes, then we can finish our game or something and then go to the beach tomorrow. Hope you're not too disappointed," she joked, knowing full well that he hadn't planned on swimming or anything of the sort.

"Very," he rolled his eyes, voice thick with sarcasm.

She giggled, thinking again how much she loved everything about him, and then forced once more to brush aside the guilt that welled up inside of her. She kept it blocked out as he kissed her lips, quickly, and then bid her good-bye. She gave his shoulders another squeeze before standing and facing Sirius again. "We'll be back soon, and I think everything will be much better." _I hope_, she added on the inside, before heading back upstairs.

She found Lucy wearing her Muggle outfit, "They're fine with it. Ready to go?"

"Yep! I'm kind of excited about this. Well, that and in theory we'll soon know one way or the other about me," she smiled, "Just think Hogwarts could be going from a staff of people with either none or grown children to two pregnant professors. Bet it's been awhile since something like that has happened."

"Yeah," she laughed, "And the Yule Ball! Now you know why I was hesitant about dress buying. Hope Nerissa has experience in maternity wear."

"I think she can manage," Lucy's face suddenly seemed alarmed again, "Oh no! That dress isn't going to fit if it turns out I am…the wedding…"

"Uh oh... that's... well, now," she tried to calm Lucy down as her friend looked ready to lose it again, "Let's just take this one step at a time, okay? Cross that bridge when we come to it. Now, let's apparate to London."

"Okay," Lucy said, breathing steadily, "Your place or mine?"

"Mine," Dinah said, "I know all the local places we can go and its close to my doctor's just in case." She grabbed Lucy's hand, since she had only gone to their place once, and they apparated.

They landed in Dinah's nice, clean living room.

"Welcome back!" a voice said.

She turned to smile at the snake in the cage in the living room, "Hey, Slinky. I brought Lucy back for a couple of errands."

"My name is not-"

"Yeah, yeah," she waved him off with a laugh and he slunk off into a corner grouchily while she turned back to Lucy, who looked only slightly freaked out, as per usual.

"Talking snake speak again, are we?" she tried to cover up her obvious uneasiness with humor.

She smiled, "I'll introduce you later. Don't worry, he's just as friendly as Sarepta. Just keep remembering that neither me nor snakes are evil," she grinned. It was so much easier to make light of the situation these days.

"Oh, I know snakes aren't evil. You, I'm not so sure about," Lucy smiled, teasing Dinah back a little bit before suddenly paling; "Excuse me," she whispered and ran for the bathroom.

Dinah waited patiently for a bit, taking that time to go upstairs and change into some Muggle clothes. When she got back downstairs Lucy was in the kitchen sipping some water slowly. She looked a bit pale, but otherwise all right. "You okay? I seem to not have been afflicted with morning sickness. I guess some people don't have it. That's what my doctor said anyway."

"Yeah, I'll be fine now…I think. I haven't eaten yet so that might be part of it, I guess. If I'm not pregnant I'd better have the flu or something because this throwing up all the time is highly inconvenient."

She nodded sympathetically, "I'm sure. If you're not pregnant you definitely need to investigate this. It could be a gall bladder issue or something... but that's neither here nor there and we've got to get going." She opened the refrigerator and pulled out four bottles of water. "We can go to the drugstore down the road and pick up a few pregnancy tests," she shoved two bottles into Lucy's arms and put the other two on the counter.

Lucy laughed, "Worried I'm going to dehydrate?"

Dinah chuckled, "No. Unfortunately, for the pregnancy tests you're going to need to urinate. A lot. So... start drinking."

"It's a good thing I like water," she said, twisting open the top of the first bottle, "Anything else I should know about these tests?"

"Most of the information will be on the boxes, so you can read those," Dinah said. "Basically, they're little white sticks and after you urinate on them a little symbol of some sort pops up to tell you if you're pregnant or not. Often a plus sign means you are and a minus sign means you're not. Others use colors. If the color shows up, you are, if it doesn't you're not. But again, they're not always accurate so you might want to use multiple ones or try a few times. That's as much as I know. The doctor told me, so I've never used one."

Lucy nodded, "I'm good at following instructions so hopefully I can figure them out." She got a small smile on her face before she said, "Maybe you should take one too."

She laughed, "Just for fun? Well, maybe. I could be your positive control," she stopped, realizing that most wizards and even Muggles didn't understand her statistics talk. "Never mind. Just in case," she grabbed a bottle of water and twisted open the cap, "Well, let's go." She led Lucy from the house and down the street to the drugstore on the corner, both of them sipping their water along the way.

"People are staring," Lucy said, as Dinah led her to the proper section. She picked up a box of condoms, "Maybe we should get this kind. It says they're ribbed for our pleasure."

Dinah flushed and snatched the box away, "Those are _not _pregnancy tests, these are!" She pointed to the section of tests and put the condoms away, noticing one or two stares as she did so. But soon the others went back to their business.

"Oh," Lucy had the grace to look embarrassed, "well those other things sounded like a more pleasant experience anyway."

"I'll explain them later," Dinah grabbed three each of four different pregnancy tests, "This enough for you or do you think I'm overdoing it?"

Lucy grabbed a box and looked at it, "Well this one says there are 3 tests in this box so…yeah you might have more than enough. I'm pretty good at tests. I've yet to utterly fail one."

She laughed and looked more closely at the boxes, putting back two of each kind since each variety had three tests in the box. "Okay this looks a little less weird checking out. If you want to look around any more feel free. You could get some vitamins or something. Or I could lend you some of mine."

Lucy raised an eyebrow, "Do you really think it's safe letting me pick out vitamins here? I'm not very experienced with this…world. It might be better if I stick close."

"I didn't mean look around on your own, I meant we both would. But maybe we should get back and take these tests first. Then we can decide what to do next."

"That might be best. I think I'll be less up and down once I know for sure. Or at least I hope I will be."

That decided, they purchased the tests and headed back to Dinah's house.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Lucy stood at the sink in Dinah's bathroom reading the instructions of the tests she just took. She was sure she did them all right but she read the instructions again just to double check. It seemed all there was to do now was wait.

She stood there staring at the tests, knowing that it wouldn't make them reveal their answers any sooner but hoping just the same. A few minutes later, one had a plus sign, one had a line, another was some strange green color that didn't seem to have a meaning, and the final one just said 'pregnant'. She took a breath and opened the door.

"Well?" Dinah stood on the other side, looking nearly as nervous as Lucy had been.

"I-" she hesitated. The results had been quite clear so she wasn't sure why she was pausing like that. She took another breath and tried again, "I'm pregnant."

Dinah looked surprised, but also not surprised. It was a weird combination. Finally, she spoke in a careful tone, "Okay. So... now what? Should I say congratulations? Should we go to the doctor to double check and also make sure everything looks okay? What would you like to do?"

Lucy leaned against the doorframe. This was a good thing as far as she was concerned. Oh, there were things that would have to be dealt with, like moving up the wedding and telling people, but she wasn't worried about that at the moment. "Um, congratulations are good. I don't know. Do you think I should go to the doctor? I'm not opposed. I just don't know anything about Muggle doctors is all."

"You don't have to, if you're okay with others knowing. I just thought that if you didn't want to see Madam Pomfrey this would be a good second choice. But it's your call. If all four tests gave you positive results, we can probably safely say you're pregnant. The morning sickness kind of proves it, too. But I could go take them really quick and we can compare."

Lucy's smile grew wider as she thought about it, "I don't mind others knowing. Now that I know and I'm not going insane I feel much better about the whole thing. Once I tell Sirius I won't be worrying about contacting Madam Pomfrey without him knowing. Every single one of those tests showed up positive, but if you want to take the tests just to be sure that's fine."

"Probably not needed," Dinah smiled, "But since all that water made me have to pee I might as well try at least one. After that we could go back to your place, or I was thinking we might go out clothes shopping for a bit. Look at the maternity sections," she winked.

"And the baby clothes! It's so much fun to look at baby clothes. I can't really buy Teddy baby clothes anymore. He's all grown up now at the age of one. But Tonks is going to have the baby soon so I can buy that one tons of baby stuff."

"Oh, yes!" Dinah clapped her hands together, "Baby clothes! We'll have to look at a lot of yellow and green since we don't know what sex we're having yet. This will be fun! Oh, but I need the bathroom now!" she shoved past Lucy and slammed the door. A few moments later she came back out, "Guess what; I'm pregnant!"

Lucy laughed, "That's quite the shocker. Now let's find a baby store! Oh," Lucy stopped for a moment, "Once again I don't have Muggle money so…"

"Rather than worry about things after they're purchased, we could do an exchange right now. I've got the formula for conversion on my computer so I don't have to figure it out by hand again. Want to do that?"

"Sure. That should make things easier," she handed Dinah a pocketful of galleons.

Dinah took the Galleons and gave Lucy £150 in exchange.

"Thanks! Is there any place in particular we should go? Do we get to ride in the car again?" Now that she wasn't worrying about her health it seemed she was returning to her usual enthusiasm.

"Sure. We'll go to the same department store where I bought your Muggle clothes last Christmas." She led Lucy out and into the car.

"This is fun. I didn't get to ride in the front last time," Lucy said, settling into the passenger's seat of Dinah's car. "Let's hope I haven't developed motion sickness."

Dinah grinned and stuck the keys into something that looked like a lock, starting the car and backing out of the driveway. Lucy stared out the windows, pointing at things and exclaiming the entire time.

"Is that the bookstore we went to? It looks familiar. Oh, what about that one? This looks like a nice area of town. Is it?" her last question came as they pulled into a parking spot near a number of stores.

"It _was_ the bookstore," Dinah agreed with a laugh, having a hard time keeping up, "And I suppose this is as nice a part of town as any." She led the way out of the car and into a humongous store.

Lucy looked up at the high ceiling, half expecting to see the enchanted sky of the Great Hall. "Mmm. Smells like leather in here. And look at all these clothes! How are we supposed to find the ones for tiny people, and by tiny people I mean babies."

"We look at the guide!" she dragged Lucy to one of the most frightening looking things she'd ever seen and pointed to a sign with some kind of list on it, but Lucy was focused on the thing next to it.

"Um, Dinah? You're not going to make us use that thing are you?" she asked, pointing, "What _is_ it? Is it going to eat us?" she was trying to keep quiet, knowing that Muggles would probably think that thing completely normal.

Dinah covered her mouth to stifle a giggle, "No, it's perfectly safe. It's called an escalator. It's just faster than stairs. Muggles do love their conveniences. And as you can see the children's and baby sections are on the second floor," she pointed to the sign, "So we need to take the escalator up."

"Okay," she was less sure about this than the cars, "You're sure it's safe?" Lucy held tightly to Dinah's arm as they approached the escalator, "You'd think I'd be used to moving stairs but the ones at school don't move like this."

Dinah shot her a reassuring smile, "The only thing you might want to watch out for is when you get off. It's safe but you might feel a weird sensation as you step off, because of the change in movement." They stepped onto the first moving stair.

"Whoa," Lucy said as they started moving up, "It's a bit like the staircases at school, isn't it? Except we're going up instead of sideways." When they reached the top Dinah neatly stepped off while Lucy nearly fell on her face, "Well, I'm graceful."

Her friend chuckled, "You're lucky that wasn't a fast one. Oh, look!" she hurried across to a little green dress with a turtle on it, "Isn't it cute? Oh, and look at this one!"

Lucy found herself drawn to yellow onesies with little ducks on them, "That's adorable, but look at these! They're so tiny!" It didn't take her long to decide she had to buy the tiny piece of clothing and soon an idea was forming in her mind. "I've got an idea! I'm going over here by all the ones with writing on them."

Dinah followed Lucy over, "What's your idea?"

She looked through the rack for a minute before answering Dinah, "Oh, I was thinking I could ask Sirius how he feels about moving up the wedding and when he asks why, which he will, I'd give him a bag with this in it," she held up a small outfit with the words 'Daddy loves me' written on it.

Dinah smiled, "Aww, that's cute! So..." she shifted in her stance, "When were you planning on telling him, then?"

"I don't know. Soon. I mean I kind of have to. It's the only way to explain my admittedly strange behavior recently and besides if we do move the wedding up we're going to have to get moving on some things…like invitations."

"Makes sense," Dinah agreed, "It's just I still don't know how I should go about telling Severus and if you tell Sirius like right away I might be forced to out the information in a way that's not most convenient. You don't mind telling him in private, do you? Oh, but if you tell him about me then Sirius will know before Severus does and I don't know how well that will go over because it's probably bad enough already that you know before he does but if Sirius did..."

Lucy nodded, "I understand. Generally I keep things to myself until it comes bursting out in one fell swoop so I tend to not have the problem of how to tell someone something. If you want I could drag Sirius out of the house for awhile tonight, or we could get lost in the woods when we go to the lake."

Dinah giggled, "Well, I don't know. I don't know whether that will help me get the news out or not. Just if you tell him before I tell Severus could you not tell him I'm pregnant too?"

"Of course," before she could say something else they were interrupted.

"Professor Samson! Professor Ketteridge! Mum it's two of my teachers from school!"

"Um, honey, are you sure? Maybe it just looks like them. After all why would your professors be shopping here?"

"Mum!"

"Oh, dear," Lucy said, suddenly nervous. Not only was she unused to seeing Muggles on a regular basis she also wasn't sure how the student's parents would feel about an unwed professor being pregnant. Surely they'd think that a poor image for their children?

"Good morning, Mae," Dinah offered the girl a smile, then met the mother's eyes, "I'm sorry, Ma'am, for any confusion. It is us. You see, I spend my summers in this world and Professor Ketteridge is a friend of mine who is visiting me."

Lucy tried to curb the impulse to hide the baby clothes behind her back and failed. She gripped them with one hand while holding out the other to Mae's mother, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Yates."

"Nice to meet you as well. Mae's told me so much about the both of you. I think your classes are two of her favorites."

"Mum!" Mae called attention to herself, "Did I tell you Professor Ketteridge is getting married?"

"Congratulations!" Mrs. Yates said.

"Thank you," Lucy smiled, "Actually Mae, Professor Samson and Professor Snape are married now."

Mae gasped, "Really? That's so nice!"

"Professor Snape?" Mae's mother looked thoughtful, "Isn't he the one you say is strict and... scary?"

Mae nodded, "He is. But he can be different around Professor Samson. Kind of like Andrew and me!"

Dinah beamed, "I'm so glad to hear that, Mae."

Mrs. Yates, on the other hand, frowned, "I still don't know about that boy, Mae."

"It's okay, Mummy. He's still learning."

Lucy smiled. It was nice to see people like Mae who saw the good in most people.

"So," Mrs. Yates continued trying to make conversation, "Are you two just browsing or…? I'm actually looking for a gift for my sister-in-law's baby shower. She's asked for so many outfits but I suppose that's understandable, it being her first child and all."

Dinah smiled and shot Lucy a wink, "Actually, I'm pregnant myself. I just found out this weekend, so I wanted to look at clothes. Since my child will live in both worlds I have a lot of things to think about."

Lucy was grateful Dinah had saved her from answering. She was comfortable with the news herself but she still feared the parents' reactions if they found out. Could their disapproval get her removed from her post?

"Really?" Mae shrieked, her eyes lighting up as she smiled at Dinah; "You're going to have a baby, Professor Sam – um, Snape?" she giggled.

"Yes," Dinah smiled back, looking the most excited about being pregnant that she had yet. Mae's enthusiasm _was_ pretty contagious, though.

"That's so great! I can't wait! You and Professor Snape must be so excited!"

"Um… yes. We are," now Dinah looked a little uncomfortable lying to her favorite student, but Mae was so thrilled she didn't seem to notice.

"Will you have it at Hogwarts?"

"Probably. Almost certainly. Though we haven't really discussed it with the headmistress yet…"

"I'm sure she'll be fine with it. Oh, congratulations! I'm so excited for you!" Mae enthused.

"Yes, congratulations to you as well!" Mrs. Yates said, smiling, "And Professor Snape too, of course," she glanced at her watch, "Mae and I should be going now, but it was so nice meeting you!"

"See you in September!" Mae called as the pair made their way out of the store.

Lucy exhaled the breath she'd been holding, "Thanks, Dinah."

"No problem," Dinah replied, "She seems easygoing enough but you never know how people will react to the not-being-married thing. I just barely made it safely myself," she grinned.

"Yeah, you're the good girl," Lucy said grinning mischievously.

"Not quite," Dinah laughed, "More like the lucky girl. And the one who didn't forget to use a protection spell."

Lucy joined in Dinah's laughter, "Actually if it happened when I think it did we just miscalculated how long the spell was going to last. We were…rather enthusiastic that night. Dinah, do you think before we go back to Hogsmeade I could ask you something else?"

Dinah grinned, "Enthusiasm happens. And sure, you can ask me anything. We'll need to go back to my place anyway to exchange any change you may have back for galleons."

"First we need to buy these things," she held up the two outfits she'd picked out, "Gender neutral outfits, but still cute and practical. You know, not to make you more nervous or anything but you're really going to have to tell Severus soon now, especially if you're telling students," she smiled to hopefully soften her words.

"I know," Dinah agreed, shifting uncomfortably again, "Now I just have more people that know before him that I have to confess about."

Lucy grimaced, "Right. Well, if it'd help at all you can always use me as an excuse. He already thinks I'm mentally unstable so maybe that will help."

Dinah smiled, "He doesn't think you're mentally unstable. We both know you get emotional about things. But we'll see what happens, I guess. Oh, I think I'll buy this," she held up a yellow onesie with a duck on it. "Let's go to the maternity section! I want to peruse the items!"

"Looks like our kids will match," Lucy said, holding up the same duck onesie Dinah had, "and I suppose that's one good thing about wearing robes all the time. Most of them are going to fit me all the way through." She followed Dinah over to the maternity section where she looked at pants that expanded in the front without the help of magic and tops that were very loose around the midsection.

"Well," Dinah thumbed through a rack of shirts, "They're not as flattering, but they'll do. What do you think of this one?" she held a cute purple, short-sleeved shirt in front of her.

"It's lovely! If I thought I'd get a chance to wear one I'd probably get it. In a different color, of course," Lucy smiled, "You know your parents are going to be thrilled. I bet they've been wanting grandchildren for a long time now."

Dinah flushed, "I'm sure they have, but at least they're nice enough to not have nagged me about it all these years." She smiled, "They're going to make wonderful grandparents, though; I know it. I look forward to seeing them interact with their grandchild." She took the shirt, "I think I'll buy this, too. You should get something eventually. I plan to invite you to our house at least once while we're pregnant! So you'll want some Muggle clothes."

"Hmmm. Perhaps I should, then." She picked up a skirt and a green top that looked like they would be serviceable no matter what size she happened to be. "How about these?"

"Oooh, those are cute! I vote we buy some matching jewelry. We passed some really nice beaded necklaces with matching earrings in all colors on the way here!"

Lucy laughed. She liked shopping but Dinah far surpassed her in enthusiasm. "All right. Why don't we purchase these first? That way this stuff will be easier to carry around and I'll know how much money I have left."

"Okay," Dinah agreed with an exaggerated sigh. Lucy had a sudden thought that she was attacking her shopping with so much gusto to keep from thinking about telling Severus, but didn't say anything. They headed to the check-out counters.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Dinah dropped her shopping bag onto her bed with a sigh, and Lucy followed suit. "Well, that was fun! I guess we can re-exchange your money now, before we go back. And you also said you wanted to ask me something?"

"Yeah," Lucy said, handing the money to Dinah and sitting on the bed. "There's a little bit of a story to it. You see, after Sirius died…well, you've already seen how I was. Anyway, Aunt Molly, somewhat rightly, thought my father should be informed of what was going on. Before then I sent him the occasional letter telling him what was going on in my life. I never received much of a response, if any, but I thought it was the right thing to do. He came to the Burrow, took one look at me, and committed me to St. Mungo's against my will. That was the last I've spoken to him. I sent him a note after I got engaged but I got nothing in return. I don't want Sirius to know what he did because I think he'll want to kill my father and I'd like him to stay out of Azkaban. Do I send him an invitation? I don't think he'll come and it wouldn't hurt me if he wasn't there but he is my father."

No wonder her friend had had such a hard time this past year. And this was _certainly_ the information that Severus seemed to have about Lucy's past and had been hesitant to talk about. She had gotten that feeling on multiple occasions, but if this was the reason then she understood completely his respect for Lucy's privacy in the matter. "Lucy," she said softly, sitting down on the bed, "That's awful. I had no idea. But...I really don't know that I can answer that question for you. Does...well, I mean you say you don't care if he wasn't there. How would you feel if he _was _there?"

Lucy shrugged; she looked ready to cry again, "I don't care. I know that sounds…I know how that sounds but it's true. He never wanted me and," she shook her head, "for a long time I wanted so badly for him to love me but that was never going to happen, so I stopped trying to make it happen. I think he has the right to know and really, I'm apathetic about him being there. I think if he came I might say things. Things I probably should have said a long time ago but things that shouldn't be said at a wedding."

Dinah gave her friend a quick hug, and that seemed to help calm her down a bit. "I don't know what to say, I really don't," she admitted. "But...well, number one since he hasn't responded to you about the engagement yet I think that if you sent an invitation he probably wouldn't come anyway. But then there's always that sort of 'I don't know, maybe he'll suddenly change his mind' thing. But I also don't think that he would be hurt if you didn't invite him. I mean, he would have to expect it. Maybe you should just wait and not invite him. Then send him a letter and tell him about being married after the wedding is over. But it's your choice. I really don't want to give the wrong advice."

Lucy nodded, "I'm not crazy you know. I feel like I have to tell that to people who know…what you know."

She shook her head, "I know that. Believe me, I do. I had plenty of psychological issues myself, if you recall. Different ones, but equally valid and equally not having anything to do with me being crazy. And I have a bit of experience in the subject, being a sociology major and having the disciplines sort of connected. Things like anxiety and being depressed. They happen to perfectly normal, happy people and it's just something you need to get through at your own pace and in your own way. They have nothing to do with being crazy."

"Thanks. I do much better now. I used to feel like I needed him with me all the time. Even if I was with other people. It was better then but I still felt it. Now, I don't need him. Well, I do, but I don't," she laughed a bit, "That doesn't make much sense but I'm sure you know what I mean."

Dinah nodded, "It's a slow process. Now, I know something that will _totally _cheer you up. Come over here, you've _got _to see this!" She led Lucy to one of the closets on the wall, "This is Severus's closet. He probably won't like me showing it to you but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. Now, just check this out!" She ripped the door open to reveal what always amused her to no end. About twenty of the _exact same _black robes stood in a neat line. His rarely-worn Muggle clothes took up no more than a few inches at the very end of the closet, along with an almost never-used pair of semi-dress robes and the dress robes he had worn for their wedding.

Lucy burst out laughing, "I've wondered why he appeared to wear the same thing everyday. I just figured the house elves washed them every night or something."

Dinah laughed, "Admit it, you weren't sure if he washed them at all. Except of course for the fact that I have assured you on numerous occasions that he showers regularly. But seriously, is this not ridiculous? I mean, at least most men have a few different colors and styles that they alternate."

"Sirius does that. He finds a style he likes and he buys it in every color. At least it seems that way. I think I've gotten him to scale back on the more obnoxious colors, though. I don't know if he's always liked colors or if it's got anything to do with having to wear the same thing for twelve years."

Dinah grinned and closed the closet. "See, we've all got our issues. Now, I think I need to give you six galleons and some change. Let me go to the computer and figure it out." After a bit of calculation she handed Lucy six galleons, fourteen sickles, and three knuts.

"Thanks again," she looked at the digital clock Dinah had sitting beside the bed, "If that's the time we should get going if you want to get to the beach today. We could pack a lunch to take with us if you want."

"Okay," Dinah smiled, "I told the boys we'd be back by dinner so we'd probably do the beach tomorrow. But since it's early enough we could still do it today. That'll be nice. Would you like to meet Slinky first?"

"Sure," Lucy said. "I should warn you though; I don't really like the feeling of things crawling on me. I don't know if it's because in my fox form it generally means I have a flea or a tick or if it's just me being a girl."

"I'm a girl, too!" Dinah teased, and then smiled. "No, I get it. You don't have to hold him or anything. I never made you hold Sarepta, did I? I just thought a proper introduction was in order." She led Lucy downstairs, calling; "Slinky!"

"Are you referring to _me_?" her snake muttered from over at the cage.

"It's a good name," she replied, trying to make her responses short so that Lucy didn't have to listen to too much parseltongue. "I just thought you should meet Lucy. Be nice."

"I'm always nice," he retorted, slithering up to the cage and nodding at Lucy, "Hello."

Dinah turned to face Lucy, "He said hello. I still have to face you directly and think about only addressing you otherwise what I say may come out in parseltongue. But I've been practicing and I hope to be in better control of my abilities by the time we bring him to Hogwarts."

Lucy nodded slowly, "Okay. Hello, Slinky. Nice to meet you."

Dinah turned back to Slinky, "She says hello and it's nice to meet you."

"I think she called me Slinky," he retorted, but nodded at Lucy again, very deliberately so that she could see the movement, "Nice to meet you."

Dinah turned to stare straight at Lucy again, "He said nice to meet you."

Lucy smiled at the snake, "I have to say this is a little weird for me. I've only talked to a couple rats, a handful of dogs, three or four cats, and most fox, before now. Oh, and Sarepta too."

"If I translate that, you're going to be hearing more parseltongue than you're used to," Dinah said, not taking her eyes off of Lucy, "Just a warning."

She nodded, "Thanks for the warning. It's far less freaky when you know it's coming."

Dinah smiled and translated Lucy's words for Slinky. After he had responded she turned back to Lucy, "He said he hopes you have a chance to talk again. He likes meeting people. I think he and I have a really good thing going here, for that reason. Now, if only I could get him to stop complaining about his name."

Lucy laughed, "Well, I've sometimes wondered how Dora feels about her name myself."

Dinah shrugged, "Who knows. Although you could ask her, couldn't you? You said you've talked to other cats."

"Um, it's not quite talking exactly. I'm not sure how to explain it. Just after Sirius had escaped from Azkaban and he was after Peter Pettigrew he was able to communicate with Hermione's cat, Crookshanks. He learned from the cat that he'd been able to steal a list of passwords from a boy's bedside table but Sirius didn't learn Crookshanks's name until later when he was told it by another person."

"Ah, I see. It's more like images then? Just kind of an idea of what they're thinking?"

"More just an idea with the odd image thrown in here and there. At least that's how it is for me...and Sirius too. It could be different for other animagi I suppose."

"That's really interesting," Dinah agreed, then translated good-byes for Lucy and Slinky before she and her friend headed back into the main hall. "I thought about using an invisibility charm on the baby clothes, but maybe I should just leave them out. In that case, I'll know Severus will see them when we come home so I'll be in effect forced to tell him beforehand."

Lucy nodded; "That's one idea for telling him. I was just going to bring mine like this. The bag doesn't say anything about babies so it should be okay. Just to warn you though, I've been thinking about it and I'll probably tell him tonight."

"Okay..." Dinah shoved away her uneasiness by changing the subject, "Hey, you know those things you picked up in the drugstore?" She grinned wickedly, "Would you like me to tell you what they are now?"

She laughed, "Judging by your face I'm not sure I want to know, but go ahead and tell me."

Dinah laughed, "It's not that bad, it'll just seem very different to you. Those things are one of many Muggle versions of a protection spell. In their case, they're for men and... Well, they're rubber and their shape is such that they fit very nicely over bananas if you get my meaning."

Lucy flushed, "I suppose it was a good thing we didn't buy them then. Muggles sure have a way of making up for the things they lack, don't they?" she gasped and covered her mouth, "I'm sorry, that probably sounded like I think myself superior. That's not how I meant it."

"It's okay," Dinah said. "It's true a protection spell is much more convenient. It really pleased Dylan when we were dating."

"I imagine so. Those things did seem to be very concerned with the women's pleasure. Have you ever tried them? I wonder if they feel as nice as they say…There were a whole bunch of those things at the store; do they come in different kinds?" Lucy asked, embarrassingly curious about the condoms.

"They do," she smiled, finding Lucy's curiosity amusing but not at all surprising. "I only tried one once, the first time I had sex with Dylan. I told him I was a witch after that, so there was no more need. And we just used a plain one, unfortunately. You could try one, though it might bug Sirius. More often than not they're an annoyance to men, I think. But there are other Muggle methods of birth control. Protection spells definitely win in my book, though."

"Hmm, perhaps I'll keep them in mind for later. After all, I know someone who can help me procure some, right?" she smiled.

Dinah laughed; "I'd be glad to whenever your curiosity strikes. Ready to apparate back?"

"I am if you are," Lucy began laughing, "You know even if you had put an invisibility spell on those clothes you would have still had to explain the five positive pregnancy tests in the bathroom."

"Oops," Dinah laughed, "Well, there we have it then. One way or another, I've got to tell him."

With that somewhat uneasy thought they apparated back to Lucy's bedroom in Hogsmeade. "Well, here we are. What's the plan?"

"Um, I think I want to tell him now," she said, putting down her bag. "Do you mind going down and sending Sirius up? This should be done in private I suppose."

"Sure," she shifted her stance, a little uncomfortable to go down and see Severus now that she had this ultimatum hanging over her. "Wait here, I'll send him up." She adjusted the purple necklace she had bought at the store around her neck and left the room. She had put it on before starting the car to drive back home, hoping it could at least stall her as clear evidence that they had indeed gone shopping. The style was generic enough that it could have been bought at a Muggle or a magical store.

The kitchen was empty when she entered it, so she headed to the living room. Sirius was now reading the newspaper with Dora curled up on his lap while Severus had switched over to the potions book. They both looked up when she came in.

"That was fast," Severus said, marking his place in the book and setting it aside.

"How'd the shopping go?" Sirius asked, looking up from his paper and idly stroking Dora.

"Good," she came into the room and perched on the arm of the chair Severus was seated in, "We bought some jewelry."

"Nice," Severus said, giving her necklace a flick, "And Lucy?"

"Mm," she forced herself to rip her gaze from her husband's eyes and look at Sirius, "She's upstairs, and feeling much better. I'm supposed to send you up to go and see her."

He leapt up, dumping Dora off his lap, and muttering, "Excuse me," as he left the room.

"Wow!" Dinah knew her mouth was hanging open as she stared at where he'd disappeared into the hall leading to the stairs; "And here I thought he was calm."

Severus shook his head, "He's been alternating between reading the paper and pacing the entire time since she got mad at him this morning. Rather distracting when one is trying to read, actually. Ugh," he groaned as Dora jumped into his lap.

Dinah laughed, "She loves you. Well, she loves everybody, but still. Um... Severus?" Her chest tightened up. She would try to tell him now.

"Yes?"

"I...um..." Where to start? I went to a Muggle doctor without telling you? I'm pregnant? Everybody knows and you don't yet? Should she apologize right away or after she told him? And...about the Muggle doctor thing. Would he be angry? Would he be willing to let her...? Her thoughts trailed off into oblivion and her resolve disappeared. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes, "I missed you."

"You were only gone for a little over two hours."

"I don't care. I missed you anyway."

He shifted and his arms came up around her, holding her close. He didn't say anything, but she knew he was probably wondering what exactly was up with her. She was definitely acting strange now, she could tell. But she didn't want to tell him just yet. Just wanted to enjoy this warmth for a little while longer, before any potential problems started. Now that she'd dug herself into this hole, telling him now might destroy this precious moment. She had promised she wouldn't do this anymore. That she wouldn't keep things from him after all that had happened last year. He trusted her and she was doing the _same thing again_. She felt awful, and it only made her put it off more, afraid that he'd be furious with her or even deeply hurt that she would hold off on telling him this long. She didn't know _what_ to do anymore.

And that was the problem with digging deeper and deeper holes. You might never get yourself out.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

In the bedroom Lucy stashed the bag on the far side of the bed before settling herself in the large chair by the window. Normally she and Sirius liked to cuddle up in the chair together. She found it a comforting place. Now that she'd had time to think, the enormity of what she was about to tell her husband-to-be was making her nervous.

She turned when the door slowly opened and Sirius made his way into the room. He looked incredibly worried. She'd done that to him. He was only halfway to her when she got up and rushed to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm _so _sorry," she whispered, nearly crying again.

"Everything okay?" he asked, holding her to him.

Lucy nodded, looking up at him, "Can I ask you something about the wedding?"

He smiled, "Change your mind about the colors again?"

"No, no," she grinned, "I was wondering how you'd feel about moving it up a few weeks?"

"Anything you want," he repeated the phrase she'd heard most often in regards to the wedding, "When were you thinking now?"

"September. Early September."

"I thought you meant a week or two. Why so early?"

Her stomach was churning as she reached into the bag she'd brought back from Dinah's and pulled out the 'Daddy loves me' outfit she'd bought. She handed it to him and waited for a moment while he read. "I'd rather not be a fat bride if I can help it."

He looked stunned. She hadn't expected anything different, really. She'd been rather stunned herself. "I…what…wait I…what?" he wasn't making much sense.

"I'm pregnant," she said simply.

"Really?" He whispered the question, almost as if saying it too loud would make it all go away.

Lucy nodded. He broke out in a large grin before picking her up. "That's wonderful, Lu!"

"Yeah, not when you're squeezing my stomach."

He laughed, setting her down. "Shall we go tell our guests?"

"Dinah knows."

"Well, still. I can tell her husband."

"Why, so you can brag about your virility? About how you managed to get your fiancée pregnant and he hasn't yet managed the same with his wife? No, thank you. I'd rather you not. Besides, it's early days yet. Something could happen and aside from that I'd rather people not know until _after_ we're married."

"Why?"

"It will put the parents more at ease with me. Parents tend to not want unwed pregnant ladies teaching their children. And if you're going to run around telling people, then _you_ have to tell Aunt Molly."

"Um, okay," he said, looking terrified at the prospect. "We keep it a secret for now."

Lucy nodded, "Yes. Now let's go downstairs." She pulled him out of the room and down to join their guests.

* * *

><p>When they entered the living room they found Dinah sitting on Severus's lap. His hands were in her hair and Lucy couldn't find Dinah's. "Oh! Um, sorry! Dinah, did you tell Severus about what we bought?"<p>

"Oh!" Dinah jumped up and whirled to face Lucy, panic in her expression as Severus gave her an odd look. "No! Well, I mean yes," she fumbled around her neck and held the purple beaded jewelry she had bought out at Lucy, "Necklaces!"

Lucy laughed. If her friend didn't tell her husband about her condition soon he might just start to consider taking _her_ to St. Mungo's. "Right. I got a green one. Anyway, if you two are still up for going to the beach we're willing to take you."

"Sure," Dinah agreed, "It's so nice and sunny out still. We should make a picnic lunch and take it with us."

"Well, come on into the kitchen then. We've got some chicken salad made up and we can make sandwiches with it if you want. Then we can search around for anything else we might want to take with us." Lucy led the party into her well-lit kitchen.

She pulled out the picnic basket and started packing it with utensils and things. Lucy looked around her kitchen and smiled. Her life was turning out just fine.

* * *

><p>"Ooh," Dinah said as she stuck a knife into the chicken salad so she could spread it on the bread she was holding, "This looks delicious, Lucy."<p>

"Thanks. It's pretty simple to make and it's easy to keep a bunch around. Mum taught me. She used to make it a lot."

"That's nice," she smiled, and then out of the corner of her eye she spotted Sirius taking a bottle of what appeared to be wine out of a cupboard along with four glasses. He wasn't planning on bringing it with them, was he? This thought occurred to her as she spread a big glob of chicken salad onto her hand instead of the bread.

"Dinah!" Lucy exclaimed. It looked like she was trying not to laugh, "You can't be hungry enough to eat your hand."

"Oh," Dinah felt her face turn bright red as she glanced at her hand. She licked off the chicken salad and then went to wash her hands. Severus was raising a characteristic eyebrow at her and wasn't paying attention to Sirius, who was faced the opposite way while she heard glasses clinking. She turned away from both of them and tried to relax as she scrubbed away the food.

When she turned and was drying her hands on a towel she noticed that Sirius had filled all four glasses and was wearing a huge grin. Well, at least _he _was happy about his significant other being pregnant. "Well, I'd like to propose a toast!" he announced.

Lucy laughed as he handed a glass to her and whispered something in her ear that made her smile. Probably telling her he had snuck something else into her glass so that she wasn't drinking alcohol.

"A toast to _what_?" Severus had to ask, turning his look to Sirius.

"Oh, nothing in particular. It just seemed like a good moment for a toast," he smiled at Lucy. Perhaps the look between them would lead Severus to believe Sirius was toasting their reconciliation.

His shrug indicated that he seemed to get that message, but that wasn't what worried Dinah. Her husband was now holding a wine glass out to her expecting her to take it. She backed up and shook her head, "No thank you."

He smirked, "What do you mean, 'no thank you'? Don't tell me you want more cherry syrup and soda. Since Sirius is proposing a toast for whatever unknown reason it would be rude not to accept."

She managed a nervous laugh, "Sure, _now _is the time you choose to start realizing what's rude in social circles."

He ignored her comment and held it out to her, "Take it."

"No!" she backed up some more.

Severus rolled his eyes, "Dinah, will you please stop with this odd behavior. There's no reason for you not to-"

"I'm pregnant!" She covered her mouth, but it was out now.

Sirius gasped and Lucy looked almost satisfied. Severus, on the other hand, let go of the glass of wine he was holding, causing it to shatter on the floor.

Both their eyes followed the glass for a moment, and then Dinah looked back up at him, "You broke their glass."

"Very astute today, aren't you?"

They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, and Dinah felt all eyes in the room on her, until finally she seemed to snap. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, and burst into tears.

"What?" Severus's expression came back to life and it was his turn to back up slightly. He looked completely confused and Dinah felt awful about it. She had no idea why she was just standing here crying with everyone staring at her. Maybe the hormones from pregnancy that she had seemed to escape thus far had finally caught up to her. "Sorry?" Severus repeated, "Dinah, what are – why are you crying? This isn't a _bad _thing, is it?"

"It...it isn't?" she sniffled, feeling a touch of hope for the first time in awhile.

"I didn't...think it was. I mean, we've talked about this." She didn't see him flustered very often, but he was right now. "Why didn't you just tell me sooner if this is what was bothering you? When did you find out? What did you do, use one of those Muggle pregnancy tests?"

"N-no. Well, I mean yes, but that was after. I mean I – that's why I'm sorry!" she moaned, "I went to a Muggle doctor!"

"You-" he broke off and frowned, "Dinah, I thought we agreed that we'd see Madam Pomfrey for-"

"But I _like _my doctor! I just went for a check-up; I didn't even think I might be pregnant so early. And then I was scared to tell you because I didn't think you'd want-" she broke off when she saw the look on his face.

He looked deeply hurt. "Oh..." he said softly. " I see. You kept this from me because you thought that I might be-"

"No!" she exclaimed, realizing that the way she'd said it sounded like she thought he didn't want the baby' "That's not what I meant! It was just the doctor thing, that's all."

He sighed, "But you kept this from me because you thought I'd be angry. I'm not. You went to your doctor, fine. That's all finished now, but from this point forward we're going to see Madam-"

"But that's the _problem_!" she sobbed, cutting him off. "I know you don't trust Muggle doctors, but I want them involved in this. I want to have ultrasounds! I want to _see _my baby before-"

"_Our _baby."

She stopped and wiped at her eyes, "What?"

"It's _our _baby, isn't it?" he still looked hurt, but came forward and pulled her into his arms.

"Mmhm," she whimpered, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her nose in his neck, marveling in how warm he was.

"Shh," he stroked her back, his voice so gentle. She felt her breathing slowing down. "We can compromise about this, can't we? Once we're back at Hogwarts we see Madam Pomfrey to check on the baby, but we can still go and have your ultrasounds if you must."

"We? You'll come, too?"

He drew back so he could meet her eyes, "Of course. What do you take me for?"

"I'm _so_ sorry," she whispered, more tears threatening to fall, "I don't know what I was thinking."

He frowned, "Neither do I. But it's all right."

She nodded, and then blurted out, "I told Lucy before you!"

It took a moment for those words to register, and then he sighed, "I see."

"And... um... at the department store today where we went in London even though we didn't tell you we were going there I ran into Mae Yates and her mother and I told them because I- because they- and- and-" the cursed hormones were attacking her again.

"Stop!" he put a finger to her lips, "Dinah, think very carefully. Aside from those," he sighed, "_three _people and the doctor. Aside from those four people, does anyone else know?"

She shook her head vigorously.

"You're _absolutely sure _about that?"

She nodded vigorously.

"Okay," Severus sighed again and then and smiled slightly, brushing a tear from her cheek, "Then we're okay. But please do me a favor and tell me first next time?"

She smiled and nodded. There would be a next time. He wanted a next time.

So did she. "I love you."

He kissed her and took her back into his embrace, "I love you."

"Awww," Lucy murmured, "I have to say though, in Dinah's defense she only told Mae and her mother because they found us in the baby section and I'd already expressed some concern to Dinah about parents finding out that I was pregnant. Parents can be surprisingly old-fashioned when it comes to things like unwed mothers…even if that mother is about to be married."

Dinah smiled as Severus pulled away from her and shot Lucy a surprised look. "Really?" he asked, and then chuckled slightly, "Interesting how things work out, isn't it?"

"Uh huh," Dinah rested her head on his shoulder, "Thanks Lucy. Now I feel a little less silly."

"I suppose congratulations are in order," Severus said, running a hand through her hair, "At least the toast makes more sense now."

"Thanks and you're welcome," Lucy waved her wand at the broken wine glass they all and watched as it repaired itself, the wine going back inside the unbroken cup.

"You said not to tell anyone and now you're going around telling people?" Sirius looked a little annoyed.

Lucy rolled her eyes, taking a sip from her glass, "I still don't want you running around bragging about how wonderful you are because you managed to get me pregnant. Besides that, I highly doubt Severus is going to run around telling people I'm in the family way."

"I have much better things to do with my time," Severus said.

Dinah grinned, "Like see the rest of the things we bought that I hadn't told you about. Oh, and I guess I kind of have a defense for telling Lucy, too. She wasn't sure if she was pregnant or not and I told her I was to cheer her up. Then I was able to take her back and let her use some of those tests."

Lucy laughed, "I told you I was good at tests. Haven't failed one yet."

She shook her head with a smile, "And now that all of _that _is over I'm hungry!"

Severus burst out laughing, "That figures. But we should probably finish Sirius's toast first."

Sirius took the formerly broken glass of wine and dumped it out. He replaced the wine with what Dinah assumed was some kind of juice and handed it back to her. "There you are. A nice, baby-friendly drink."

"Thank you," she flashed him a smile.

The group lifted their glasses. "To family," Sirius turned to look at Severus, "It's funny to think neither one of us had much of a family before and now look at us. Marriage, children, and we're standing in the same room together without trying to kill each other, who'd have guessed?"

Severus just stared at Sirius for a moment and Dinah thought perhaps her expression was just as surprised, although pleasantly so. Finally, he smiled and raised his glass a little higher, "Indeed. And also that we were both given second chances to do things right... both with ourselves and each other." Dinah smiled and snuggled closer to her husband at his words.

"Hear, hear," Lucy said, tipping her glass into the others and leaning against her fiancé.

"Well," Dinah said after taking a sip of her juice, which turned out to be rather tasty and fruity, "After such a heartwarming scene I guess we should head to the beach." She handed her glass back to Sirius, "Thank you. That was almost as good as cherry syrup and soda."

Lucy laughed as Sirius took the glasses. "Well, while we were upstairs, the two of us slipped our bathing suits on under our robes. If you have any plans to get in the lake you might want to grab some of your own."

Dinah grinned, "Severus doesn't 'bathe' in public, but I'll go up and get mine!" She left the kitchen and hurried up the stairs almost two at a time. She had finally told Severus she was pregnant and everything had turned out absolutely perfectly! She was sort of kicking herself a bit for being so worried in the first place, but at least it had all worked out.

Although, she thought wryly as she began to change her clothes, she was probably going to be in for a lot more hormonal bizarreness over the next eight months or so.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews everyone! Animalwriter and myself both really appreciate them. Kat, there is definitely going to be some Sev/Sirius bonding time in future chapters, both in this story and the sequel I'm writing for Don't Leave Me. Just so everyone knows I'm going to be out of town for the next few days. Have a happy 4th of July!

Chapter 9

Lucy started packing the food into the picnic basket, "Dinah, I know I keep asking you things, but what was that ultrasounds thing you were talking about earlier? Something about seeing the baby?"

"Oh, it's wonderful!" Dinah said with emphasis, clapping her hands together. Severus looked less than excited about the prospect as he helped Sirius pack the beach things into another bag, but he didn't say anything. "They use sound waves that reflect off of the baby inside you and from the pattern it generates you can see its shape. You can watch it grow inside of you and see its head and feet and fingers and toes and its little body."

"Aww. That sounds…indescribable," she hesitated. It was one of those things she should probably ask Sirius about first but she already knew what he'd say. He enjoyed Muggle things too, just not to the same extent. "Do you think _I_ could get one of those?"

Dinah smiled, "I'm sure we could arrange it somehow."

"We'll have to wait awhile I suppose. Probably not much to see now. This also means no more of my four-footed self for a few months, but it'll be worth it."

"Oh, that _is_ strange," Dinah mused, "I wonder how that works. _Can_ you even transform?"

Lucy nodded, "I can. In fact we did about three weeks ago or so. It's just from what I read when I was learning to transform it's strongly recommended that pregnant witches not transform. Especially during later stages of pregnancy. It's hard on mum and baby. Then there's having to make sure you manage to transfigure the baby as well as yourself. The research I read said for an unknown reason that's harder to do if you happen to transform into a smaller animal," Lucy blushed. With all that knowledge it probably seemed like she'd been planning for the future. She hadn't. She just liked being knowledgeable about things. "I read a lot."

Dinah grinned, "Don't I know it. Well, I suppose it's all for the best, then. And I'll let you know when is a good time for ultrasounds. We're probably about the same when it comes to how far along we are. Are we ready to go?" she changed the subject, gesturing to the picnic basket Lucy had just closed as the men walked back over to them, Sirius holding the filled beach bag.

"I think so. There's a couple blankets to sit on in the basket already. We can go to the spot where we're getting married if you want. It also happens to be a good spot for swimming, picnicking, and general merrymaking. At least I think so." Lucy led the group out of the house and down the road towards the lake.

"Give me that," said Sirius, taking the picnic basket from her, "You shouldn't be carrying that."

"Well now you're carrying both things! I'm capable of carrying something."

He shrugged, "It's fine. I've got it."

"I can carry the other," Severus offered.

"Thanks," he handed his former enemy the beach bag, "Appreciate it."

Lucy rolled her eyes and looked at Dinah, "Is this what we're going to have to go through for the next nine months?"

"I don't know about me, but maybe you are," Dinah grinned. "How about it, Severus? Could I carry that bag?"

Severus shot his wife an amusingly irritated glance, "Since there are two bags and exactly two of us are not pregnant, I can see no reason for you to carry it."

Lucy laughed and pointed, "Haha Dinah. Maybe you too."

"Well, at least my husband _tried_ to put it in a logical framework," Dinah retorted, but she was grinning. "Besides, he might let me carry one if there were three bags."

"Perhaps," Severus's smile was light, "Until there are three bags present, we'll never know."

About fifteen minutes later Lucy walked into the clearing near the lake, hand in hand with Sirius. "Here it is! What do you think?"

There were trees scattered around the clearing, green now, but they'd be changing colors by the time the wedding came around. The lake was calm and off to the left Hogwarts was clearly visible. The clearing was big enough for a moderately-sized gathering and Lucy thought it would be absolutely gorgeous.

"This is beautiful," Dinah said, running forward into the center of the clearing and looking around, "Just like Hogwarts grounds, but with the added bonus of the lake right next to you." A very green spot on Hogwarts grounds was where Dinah and Severus had gotten married.

"I love it here," Lucy said, trying to take the picnic basket from Sirius, "I found it in my second year, while I was looking for a quiet place to read outside. Oh, would you give me that! I just want to spread the blankets out, not use the thing for body building."

Dinah laughed, "Really, I don't think lifting is much of an issue until at least the third trimester, but I'd have to research it."

Lucy stuck her tongue out at Sirius, who just sat the basket on the ground, "Thank you. Now," she said, spreading out the blankets, "would you like to eat? I'd like to, but I don't want to be rude."

"Go," Severus cocked his head toward Dinah and pointed to the food. She shot him a glare but happily marched over to the basket and helped Lucy take out the food.

"He thinks he knows me so well," Dinah rolled her eyes and bit into a sandwich.

A smile touched Lucy's lips, "He does. Besides, it's only logical. Neither one of us have eaten today. Unless you count the massive amounts of water you made us drink," she grabbed an orange and started peeling it.

"Aw, but that was fun, wasn't it?" Dinah joked; "Besides, babies need water."

Lucy laughed, "Yeah, great fun," she took a bite of the sandwich followed by an orange slice, "Either I was just really hungry or that's the best food I've eaten in a really long time."

Dinah had already finished her sandwich and grabbed another. In contrast, Severus had taken one bite and Sirius was still unwrapping his. "Well, these _are _very good," Dinah said.

Looking at both men, Lucy said, "We are putting these boys to shame. Don't boys usually eat more? Ron does, Bill and Charlie always ate more than me, and I'm sure you aren't pregnant enough to notice any change in the amount you eat. We already know that's not the case with me but still."

Dinah laughed, "I'm secretly hoping they had breakfast while we were gone. And maybe a late snack."

Sirius grinned, "We did. Or Severus did anyway. I had toast."

Lucy looked at her fiancée before turning back to Dinah, "He still eats less than I think he should. Blames it on Azkaban."

"I see," Dinah said, grabbing an orange of her own to peel, "Well, I suppose one's body can be conditioned to eat less, if you have to do it for a long time."

"Yes, I can see that. It can be rather irritating at times though," Lucy said, setting down the half an apple that was left. "Well, I think I'm going to take off my robes and lay out for a bit. You know, let the food digest some before jumping in the water."

Dinah looked up at the bright sun overhead and nodded, "Good idea. It's so warm out." They both removed their robes to reveal their bathing suits. Dinah was wearing a one-piece with mixed pale pink and black overlapping flowers. She leaned against Severus, "Enjoying your sandwich?

He had actually had to rip his head rather quickly from his food to turn and look at her when she'd leaned against him. He looked her up and down with a frown, "You are trying to distract me."

Lucy laughed, laying her head in Sirius lap, adjusting the bottoms of her coral bikini. "Of course we are. How do you think we got in the condition we currently find ourselves in?"

Severus managed to look embarrassed at that comment, cleared his throat and went back to his sandwich. Dinah giggled and looped her arm into his before leaning back and letting the sun hit her face.  
>"I think I like this condition."<p>

Lucy smiled and closed her eyes, "Me too."

* * *

><p>Leaving Severus, still in his usual black robes, on the picnic blanket where he remained perfectly satisfied and comfortable, Dinah hurried down to the lake with Lucy and Sirius for a short swim. She smiled as she stuck a foot into the water, thinking that he had told her to be careful before she'd left. She was certain he was going to be amazing through this whole experience. "Not too cold," she commented, walking further in.<p>

Sirius picked his soon-to-be-wife and carried her to the water, Lucy laughing but saying, "I can walk, you know." He walked farther into the water before pretending to lose his grip, and dropped Lucy into the lake. She came up sputtering and shoving wet hair out of her face, "The water's not cold at all."

"No, it isn't," Dinah watched them with a smile, now up to her waist in the pleasant water. But she wasn't too disappointed that she couldn't swim with Severus like the other couple. She liked her husband just the way he was. Even if that did mean he stayed on the shore. And besides, she _did _get him to swim on their honeymoon, at night, when they were by themselves. That alone was a small victory. She dove under the water and came up, waving at him off in the distance. She could just make out him tilting his head toward her in acknowledgement and offering a short wave as he peeled an orange. She smiled and turned around, swimming into deeper water as the other couple playfully splashed each other.

"Dinah!" Lucy squealed just before Sirius dunked her. She came back up sputtering and laughing, "Help me!"

"Umm, I think I shouldn't get involved," Dinah laughed.

The next time Sirius dunked his bride to be she didn't come back up. Oddly he didn't look too panicked.

"Lucy?" Dinah swam over to the area, looking around, and then shot Sirius a glance, "What happened to her?"

He shook his head, "Nothing. I suspect she got tired of me dunking her and swam away."

Dinah jumped when Lucy reappeared a few feet from them, "Sorry Dinah! I didn't mean to scare you like that," she said, swimming back closer, "My father's house isn't too far from the ocean. I spent a lot of time there during the summers. I'm an excellent swimmer. No need to worry."

"Oh," Dinah said sheepishly, "Sorry."

Her concern was waved away, "That's all right. How were you to know? It's not like we've really discussed my past much."

Dinah backed up a couple steps as a grin spread across Lucy's face and her friend's eyes darted from Sirius to Dinah, seemingly trying to tell him something.

It seemed she'd been lured over to them so they could force her into their water fight. Or at least that's what she thought as Lucy jumped at her, knocking her down and under the water.

"That's not funny!" Dinah shouted when she came up for air, but she was laughing when she said it. She splashed Lucy but her friend, true to her word about her swimming prowess, glided effortlessly out of the way and instead the wash of water slammed into Sirius.

Instead of getting upset he just laughed, throwing water back at her.

Soon they were all laughing and splashing and dunking each other in the warm water of the lake. The water fight continued on and they eventually found themselves farther out from shore than they had been. When the fight died down Lucy looked around at the lake and sighed, "It's hard to believe everything that happened here sometimes, isn't it? It's all so calm."

"Mmhm," Dinah pushed a strand of wet hair out of her face so she could see the lake better. "It's really beautiful out here. Hopefully nothing bad ever happens here again."

"Well, there is the Tournament later in the year here, but I doubt anything tragic will happen then."

"Surely not," Dinah agreed. "Everyone is so dedicated to making sure it runs smoothly this year, and I really think all the threats are truly exhausted now."

Lucy stopped and turned to look at Dinah, "Me too. Well, except for the dangers that come with being involved in the Tournament itself. The tasks aren't exactly easy as I understand it."

"So I've heard..." Dinah trailed off, and then smiled, recalling one of her favorite scenes from the pensieve regarding the Triwizard Tournament. Severus had put Minister Fudge in his place, if only for a moment, by shoving the dark mark in his face, forcing him to look at it and accept that Voldemort had indeed returned. Then again, Fudge had quickly ignored it, but still, the look on the old Minister's face at that time had been impressive. And put there by her husband, probably one of strongest, most courageous men alive. Then again, mentioning it to him only made him remember Dumbledore implying he could have been in Gryffindor, which always disturbed him to no end. It was actually rather amusing. He preferred to think of Gryffindor as no more than a second house, and their shared second house was represented by the gold in their wedding rings.

"Well, all we know for sure is we aren't the ones who will be deciding. Besides," Lucy smiled, "we'll probably be missing at least one of the tasks anyway."

Dinah smiled back, "Yes... you know I just realized we'll have to look forward to telling Minerva all about us both being pregnant. I wonder how she'll choose to deal with it. Somehow I don't think Hogwarts has ever had two pregnant professors at the same time before."

"Not in recent history anyway. I wonder what sort of substitutes they'll get for us. I mean I don't plan on using a syllabus really. I didn't last year and that's probably hard for a sub."

"That's a dilemma," Dinah agreed, "Well, hopefully we're not missing for too long. I'm calculating...for me, it will probably be the end of February when the baby comes. So that's only a few months missed, presuming I go back the next year." She smiled, "With both Severus and I as professors, I bet we can have our schedules designed so we're never both teaching at the same time. Or, not a lot."

Lucy began counting on her fingers, "March, I think. That sounds about right. I'm sure between the three of us though we'll be able to watch the babies. We might even be able to take them to class occasionally. After all, while they're still young they'll probably sleep quite a bit."

"Four, you mean," Sirius said.

Lucy looked confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Between the four of us we'll be able to watch the babies. After all, I assume once we're married I'll be allowed to live with you at Hogwarts."

"Oh, right," Lucy said, scrunching up her face, "I hadn't thought of that. Between the four of us."

"I hadn't thought of that either," Dinah smiled, "Won't that be fun? We'll have to have regular dinner parties or something."

"Oh, we should! But not more than once a week," Lucy said, referring to Severus's comment earlier in the year about not wanting to share a meal with them more than once a week, once a month if a film was involved. Dinah grinned and nodded before the other woman suddenly covered her mouth, stifling a laugh, "You know if we have one of each…well let's just say it would be amusing if they ended up dating at some point."

Dinah couldn't stifle her own laugh in response, "That _would _be amusing. Perhaps a little cliché or far-fetched, too. Then again, you never know." She turned and looked back towards the shore. Severus had finished eating and picked up that silly potions book again. She grinned, "I think I'm going to head back up to shore now. You two enjoy."

"All right. We'll see you when we come in. Probably not too much longer. We've got to finish that Monopoly game."

"Yes. I still have to make my comeback and win," Dinah smiled and left her two friends to start another water fight, swimming and then walking up towards shore and out of the water. Severus put his book down just as she plopped down next to him on the blanket. "That was fun."

"I noticed," he said, smiling slightly.

She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, "Nice day. This has turned out to be a lovely summer so far, huh?"

"Indeed."

"Um, Severus..." she whispered, twiddling her fingers, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"Hm," he replied.

"Don't be unresponsive!"

"What would you like me to say? You've told me. It's over and done with."

She lifted her head and turned to look at him, "So you're not mad at me?"

One corner of his mouth turned up in a half-smile. "I don't think getting angry with you would be productive."

"Oh?" she teased, "But it's productive to get angry at me over taking you to see a Muggle movie?"

"That's entirely different," he smiled, "You have to realize your limits, Dinah. You can't make me see a Muggle movie on the same day that you force me to wear _white_."

Dinah laughed, "But it makes you look so pretty."

"And that's supposed to please me?"

"You know it does."

He chuckled and turned to face her, tilting her face towards his and kissing her lips. Then he let his hand float down to rest on her stomach; "So...this is really happening, isn't it?"

She flushed and placed her hand over his, "It is." When her husband closed his eyes for a moment in response she became a little concerned. "Severus?"

"This _is _a good thing," he said after a bit, opening his eyes and smiling at her. But she wasn't sure what she thought about his tone earlier. "I suppose it will be an adventure."

Dinah smiled and nodded, "Hopefully one we're not too old to have."

Severus laughed, "I think our teenage years are still fresh enough in our minds, after last year's adventure."

"Then we're sure to drive our children crazy," she grinned.

Her husband looked away from her and out at the lake, where they could just make out the figures of Lucy and Sirius swimming side by side parallel to the shore, "Perhaps you will simply by stealing all of their food."

"Hey!" she exclaimed, flushing, "I resent that!"

"I know," he smiled, pleased with himself; and then paused and frowned. "We have to make certain...they'll have a good life. No mistakes. No doubt you'll be an excellent mother, but me...my track record and my history is..."

Dinah sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, inching closer to him on the blanket, "You're not going to be like your father."

He looked back at her and ran a hand through her hair, "Not with you around."

She shook her head, "You don't give yourself enough credit. It's not just me. You wouldn't be like that anyway."

"Thank you," he tilted his head as he regarded her, the smile on his face widening a bit, "But I wouldn't be having children without you around anyway, so that's all irrelevant."

"I don't think so. It's the principal of the thing."

"Perhaps," he looked happy, though, as he turned to look back out at the lake. Sirius and Lucy appeared to be done swimming.

"Severus," she inched closer to him, resting her fingers lightly on the back of his neck, feeling his muscles tighten a bit at her touch. Although he hated to admit it in words, he couldn't resist her when she flirted like this. She smiled and whispered in his ear, "I love you."

He turned and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close so that she was pressed up against him. His eyes met hers; "You're everything to me."

"Oh, Severus," she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting herself melt into him as he kissed her again. A few blissful moments passed before they were interrupted.

"Well, well, do you think you might want to get a room?" Sirius's voice teased.

Dinah flushed and Severus pulled away as rapidly as he knew how, which was pretty fast. She laughed and looked up at a dripping wet Lucy and Sirius, smiling down at them, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine. After all we aren't public," Lucy quipped.

"You startled me," Severus grumbled at her.

Lucy shrugged, grabbing a towel, "We've been yelled at a time or two for similar things. In fact Rosmerta prefers us to sit on opposite sides of the table when we go to the Three Broomsticks."

Dinah laughed, "I know, I've seen it."

Severus, who had turned back to the picnic basket and promptly closed it, now stood up; "Are we finished here?"

"Aw, are you sure you don't want to strip down and go swimming with me?" Dinah joked.

He frowned and looked away, "_That_... is a stupid question."

Lucy and Sirius looked rather awkward, staring at Dinah. "Um, no offense or anything but there are very few people I want to see naked outdoors…or indoors for that matter," Lucy said.

Dinah burst into giggles, "You two are so literal. I meant strip down to his _shorts_ and I also knew that there was no way he was going to say yes. But now that I've seen that horrified look on your faces I think I've seen everything."

"Not quite everything," Lucy smiled. "There's still the experience of two very fat professors dancing at the Yule Ball to witness."

"Yes," she laughed, "There _is _that."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Do you think we should write Minerva?" Lucy asked. They were back at the house and trying to finish up the game of Monopoly they'd started last night. "I mean if we write her now we'll have more time to figure out what we're going to do in the spring and then there's moving up the wedding…"

"Mmm, writing Minerva, huh?" Dinah muttered, rolling a seven and landing in jail for the fourth time this game. "Probably should but I have no idea what to write."

"Well," Sirius said, rolling a three and joining Dinah in jail, "I can think of a few things but how about, 'Hey Minnie, I'm pregnant.' It's short and to the point."

Dinah couldn't help but laugh at that, and even Severus chuckled as he purchased yet another hotel from the bank for one of his properties. "I don't know what she'd say to getting two 'I'm pregnant' letters and being called 'Minnie' in the same day."

Sirius shrugged, "Generally it got me detention…calling her Minnie that is not sending her an 'I'm pregnant' letter. But I don't think she can give the staff detention so it should be okay."

Lucy smiled before rolling and handing Severus the money she owed him for landing on one of his properties, "I was thinking something more along the lines of 'Dear Minerva. Dinah and I have a situation we'd like to talk to you about in person as soon as possible so that we might all have an adequate amount of time to find a reasonable solution to rectify the issue. Sincerely, Lucy and Dinah'. If nothing else it's a little more cordial than 'Hey Minnie'."

"Hmm," Severus said, his usual noncommittal phrase a bit more thoughtful and drawn out; "I agree that meeting with her in person would likely be best, and both at the same time. Will you need Sirius and myself to be present at such a meeting or not?"

"Well, I don't particularly need you to be there, that's up to Dinah," Lucy teased. She turned to Sirius, "I don't think you need to be there. I mean if I talk to her about the wedding the only thing she can really say is yes or no. Not that you can't come if you want of course."

Dinah nodded; "I think we could handle it on our own. Probably less overwhelming for all parties involved that way, and more professional." She smiled at her husband, "But thanks for asking."

He returned the smile and Lucy couldn't help but think how odd it still was to see the man smiling so much.

"I do have some news about the wedding but it shouldn't affect anything really," Sirius said casually.

"What news?" Lucy asked, a small amount of panic in her voice and face.

"Nothing bad, relax. I should have said something before our guests arrived, but, well things were a bit dicey to say the least. Anyway, I received two letters in response to ones I wrote. Ron and Charlie said they'd be more than happy to be groomsmen, which means you can have your two extra bridesmaids you wanted. Though Charlie did say he'd been hoping to be your maid of honor."

"Really?" she was shocked. She hadn't expected him to _want_ to ask anyone else to stand up with him. When he nodded, Lucy turned to Dinah, "Dinah? I mean it means going back to Nerissa's at some point and getting measured and fitted and all that…"

"I'll do it!" Dinah stood excitedly, knocking half of her fake money and little mini houses from the bank over.

"Why don't you tell us how you really feel?" Severus teased.

"Um," Lucy laughed, "I guess that means the game's over?"

"No, no," Dinah giggled and began putting things back where they belonged; "I can get this back where it's supposed to go. Besides, I have a whole three-hundred pounds left. I can still win this thing."

Lucy raised a brow, "Are you sure? I mean I know I'm not going to win seeing as how I've given most of my money to Severus and his stupid hotels but I'm pretty sure I'm still doing better than you."

"No, no, I can still come back," Dinah insisted stubbornly, rolled doubles, and moved out of jail only to land on one of Severus's hotel spaces and hand him the remainder of her money. "Maybe not."

Looking up at the clock, Lucy said, "Well, I'm not sure if we've reached the two hour mark or not but I'm getting hungry again and in light of the fact that we women are apparently unable to lift so much as a basket I think the men should get dinner."

"Mm, dinner," Dinah smiled. "I want pizza."

"In case you've forgotten, this is not the Muggle world where there is a pizza place on every corner. And I'm fairly certain there are none in Hogsmeade," Severus said with a roll of his eyes.

"Aww, but you've got enough money for it," Dinah teased, poking at his giant stack of Monopoly bills. "Bribe Rosmerta to custom make it for you."

Lucy gasped. "Pizza! That sounds good! Make pizza," she ordered her fiancé.

"Make pizza? Just like that? You do know you're not marrying a chef, right?" Sirius asked, raising a Snape-like eyebrow.

"So? Go bribe Rosmerta into making us one. No, two. She likes you. She'll do it. Oh! And go to Madam Puddifoot's and get some desserts! Preferably chocolate ones."

"Chocolate layer cake," Dinah said, "With pudding."

"Yes, pudding! And ice cream. There's always room for ice cream."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Two men cannot go into Madam Puddifoot's together and order a chocolate layer cake with pudding and ice cream. It just won't look right."

"Maybe two men can't, but you two should have no problem," Lucy said.

Dinah burst out giggling and Sirius and Severus both looked somewhat insulted at Lucy's comment. "Are you trying to insult them, Lucy? It sounded like you were suggesting that they're not men."

Lucy laughed, "No, not really. I just meant that I highly doubt anyone would think there were romantic feelings between Sirius Black and Severus Snape."

"Ah," Dinah grinned; "Well, those who know them, anyway. Others, I don't know..." she made a show of looking around suspiciously.

"All right. That's enough or you're not getting your pizza," Severus growled.

"Or your layer cake," Sirius added.

"Uh oh, they just agreed on something, should we worry?" Dinah asked Lucy.

"I think so, but I hardly think it's fair that they are threatening to deprive us of food. After all we're over here using all our energy trying to incubate their children."

"Hear that?" Dinah gave the boys a pointed glare. "Go get food. And don't worry; they won't suspect anything as long as you don't hold hands."

Sirius shrugged and looked at Severus, "This is somehow our fault, isn't it?"

"Likely so," Severus agreed. "That's how'd they usually frame it, anyway. And I think getting on their bad side now is probably not a good idea since we're in for approximately seven more months of... this," he made a random gesture at the two of them.

"I'm more than willing to admit I had a part in it. But I was not the one who didn't calculate properly. Had Sirius not been distracting me I would have figured out that the spell was about to expire."

Dinah laughed. "It happens. Glad I didn't have to worry about that. We haven't been using the spells since we got married. Nope, no spells, not once out of the many many many times we-"

"Your pizza," Severus cut in, "Is about to fly out the window."

Lucy covered her face with her hands, "Can we not get into a contest about how many times we've…" she trailed off, hoping Sirius would interrupt her.

"Oh, please go ahead and finish," he told her, "I don't care who knows how many times we've gone at it. Especially if you've kept count because I stopped long ago…and I'm pretty sure we'd win anyway. There might be a bonus pizza in it for you."

"You only win 'cause you started earlier!" Dinah stuck a finger at him.

"Yeah, well we effectively live apart for most days of the week so you've had more opportunity," Sirius stuck his tongue out at Dinah's finger.

Lucy looked at Severus, "We live with children."

"It should be excellent practice, then," Severus agreed, rolling his eyes at Dinah and pushing her arm back down to her side. "We should go now, if you ever want to eat."

She smiled, "All right, I'll leave you be for now. Be quick and don't forget to buy drinks," she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Ooooh drinks! Pumpkin juice! Get that. No booze. And I can eat as much as I want because I'm pregnant and I'll probably end up throwing it up later anyway."

Sirius laughed, "Alright, pumpkin juice. Just please don't purposely overeat because you might throw it up. It can't be good for the baby."

"I'll do my best, but judging by my appetite this is Dinah's baby anyway so she should probably get more of a say than you."

"Great, I have two babies now. Isn't that nice, Severus?"

"Not if you want to try for more of our own without using spells, darling," Severus said sarcastically.

Sirius kissed Lucy's nose, "If we don't go now you'll never get your pizza."

"Okay, okay, go," she said, shooing them toward the door, "Dinah and I will pick up."

* * *

><p>The two men walked next to each other, but far apart, towards the Three Broomsticks and pizza. "Well, this is an interesting position we find ourselves in," Sirius said, trying to make conversation.<p>

"Mm," Severus agreed; "It will only get more interesting. I don't know that I'm necessarily craving pizza _or_ chocolate layer cake."

Sirius laughed, "Me either, but I have a feeling it will not be good for us if we come back without them." They walked in silence a few more minutes, "I hope it's a girl. With Lucy's hair and her smile. And her ears. She has tiny ears. They're cute."

Severus responded with a half smile as they approached the Three Broomsticks. "I hope it works out for you. I don't really know whether I want a boy or a girl. As long as Dinah's happy...and the child has a better life than I did. It'll probably have dark hair, but I hope the texture is more like Dinah's. And Dinah's grey eyes. Her nose, too. Definitely not my nose. Maybe it could have some of my skills, though."

"Mmm," Sirius said, opening the door to the tavern, "It can be a boy if it wants, but if that's the case it probably shouldn't have tiny ears. And Lucy's smile might be a bit too feminine. He can still have red hair, though. I mean I'll be happy either way as long as they're both healthy." They walked up to the bar and waited for Rosmerta to get a free moment, "Um, you know we never asked what toppings…"

"Maybe we should ask Rosmerta what would be easiest. Then we can blame _her_ if the girls don't like it."

"That sounds like a good idea. Let's do that."

Madam Rosmerta walked over to the counter; "Sirius. Um...Professor Snape."

"Rosmerta. We, that is Severus and I, were wondering if you could possibly make us a couple of pizzas?"

"Pizzas? I don't usually serve pizza."

"Not even to pacify two pregnant women?" Severus asked in a bored voice.

"Two preg—wait, what?"

"He said two pregnant women. Lucy and Dinah…"

"Lucy! And Dinah! That's exciting! Congratulations, you two. So, pizza huh? What would you like on them?"

"It's pretty much up to you," Sirius said, "We're going to blame it on you if the girls don't like it anyway."

Rosmerta had to laugh; "Well, then I have my work cut out for me, don't I? You wouldn't believe what I went through when my sister was pregnant. All right... I'll see what I have and I'll try to make sure there's enough variety to please everyone. Do either of you care what I put on it?"

"No," they both insisted at the same time, and then exchanged mild uneasy glances.

After Rosmerta went in the back to start the pizza, the two sat at the bar to wait. "So…" Sirius said, "I'm still not looking forward to walking into Madam Puddifoot's with another man."

"I'm not looking forward to walking into Madam Puddifoots _period_."

"It's really more of a place for the kids. Really we only go there to pick up a dessert and take it with us. Don't let Lucy tell you we actually eat there. We don't. She finds it over-the-top and nauseating too."

Severus snorted; "You would look rather awkward eating in there. A grown couple, that is, not you and Lucy specifically."

Sirius was trying to think of something else to say when Rosmerta came back out to them. "All right, here you go. Two pizzas. Anything else?"

"Pumpkin juice," Severus said, and then what appeared to be a vindictive grin crossed his face. "And cherry syrup and soda. With an umbrella. Same as you'd prepare for Professor Flitwick."

"You sure that's a good idea? Dinah didn't ask for it."

"Probably not," Severus shrugged as Rosmerta went to get the drinks. "But I couldn't resist."

Sirius shrugged, "It's on your head. After all, Lucy seems to be more emotionally stable now while Dinah…"

Severus laughed. "I know, I know. I guess I'm considering this a bit of an experiment. It can't hurt to test her reactions to things early on in the pregnancy so as to develop strategies to handle her later on."

Sirius joined in the laughter, gaining them looks from the other patrons in the room, "That might be a good idea. Lucy can still be kind of up and down though. Not as much as she used to be but still, enough that I'm not sure conducting experiments on her like that would do much but get me in trouble."

"It's a risk we can only choose to take according to our own thoughts on the matter. Although if you decided to do it it might be better if we both did it to our women at the same time so that they can share the experience and will be less likely to lash out at us. Then again, the experiment might be less of a success due to interfering factors."

Sirius peeked into the top pizza box, "Well, we might be performing the experiment whether we want to or not. Rosmerta put shrimp on this pizza. Lucy hates shrimp."

"It's all right," Severus said, peeking into the other box, "This one is half-ham and half-plain cheese. Lucy can't complain about plain cheese, can she?"

"I wouldn't think so," he said, grabbing the gallon of pumpkin juice Rosmerta had set in front of them. "Thanks, Ros," he tossed some coins on the bar, "That enough?"

"Take those back. It'll be on the house this time. Tell those girls congrats for me and they'll be getting nothing stronger than pumpkin juice and cream soda with cherry syrup from me for awhile."

"Thank you," Severus took the umbrella'd cherry syrup concoction from Rosmerta. "I don't think they'll ask for anything else, anyway." When she had offered a slightly surprised 'you're welcome' and left to tend to other customers, Severus turned back to Sirius. "Well, I'm willing to let you go into Madam Puddifoot's on your own, since you've at least ordered things there before. But I'm not going in on my own. Either we both go or just you."

"Oh, we're both going. That way they can't just blame me if I get the wrong flavor pudding or ice cream." They walked out of the Three Broomsticks and down the street to Madam Puddifoot's. It was fairly empty this time of year.

"I _cannot tolerate_ all of this... pink," Severus growled, looking around them.

"Oh, and I look like the type of guy who just loves this, do I?"

"Not necessarily," Severus said.

"Coming, coming," Madam Puddifoot hurried forward to greet them and then stopped with a shocked expression when she saw who it was. "Sirius, Professor Snape! My my, what on _Earth_ are you two doing together?" A few people in the seats nearby heard her and looked over with wide eyes.

Severus turned, "I'm leaving."

"Oh, no you're not!" Sirius shouted, grabbing Severus's robe and pulling back to stop him from getting away, which drew the looks of pretty much everyone else in the room. He flushed and let go as Severus turned a death glare on him. That had _not_ been a good move to make.

"Our wives are pregnant and they want cake!" Severus said much too loudly, trying to draw attention away from Sirius's action but only making the room more curious.

"Um, I'm not married," Sirius said, "but I do need a chocolate layer cake, some pudding, and some ice cream."

"Really?" Madam Puddifoot asked with a knowing glance his way. "Lucy at home waiting for you this time?"

Sirius flashed her a crooked smile, "Yes, but not for what you're thinking. Like Severus said, our women are pregnant and they want cake."

"Oh, well congratulations!" She smiled at Sirius, and then looked at Severus. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were married, Professor Snape. You've never come into the shop, of course. I've only seen you outside, disciplining students."

"Professor Dinah Samson – Snape, now. Muggle Studies. My wife." Severus still seemed frozen in embarrassment as he answered Madam Puddifoot in broken sentences.

Sirius laughed. It was rather amusing to watch Severus in a situation where he was so uncomfortable. "Could you please get the cake, pudding, and ice cream before the pizza gets cold and we get into trouble?"

"Sure, no problem. What flavors would you like?"

"Chocolate," Severus said decidedly.

"The pudding or the ice cream?"

"The pudding. Sirius will pick the ice cream."

"Oh, sure make me pick. You'd just love for me to get into trouble, wouldn't you?" He turned to Madam Puddifoot, "Cherry, if you have it." She hurried away to grab their selections. Sirius thought she moved so fast to get away from Severus.

"I picked the pudding," Severus said stubbornly.

"Yes, and I do appreciate it, dear," Sirius teased, batting his eyelashes at his former enemy.

Severus's hand immediately went for his robe pocket where he held his wand, his facial expression not unlike that of when they were enemies. He paused and flushed when he was halfway there. "Sorry. Reflex." He turned away.

Sirius shrugged, "I get it." He set the pizza and juice on a table before digging into his pockets for the money Rosmerta had refused. "If you can handle the pizza and drinks, I'll get the desserts. The quicker we get out of here, the better."

"My thoughts exactly," Severus muttered, picking up the pizza and juice. "I think all the pink is messing with my mind."

"I could say something, but I think I'll refrain. Dinah might hit me again," he grabbed the desserts from Madam Puddifoot, muttering thanks before hurrying his companion out of the shop.

"Dinah didn't hit you, she just pointed at you," Severus said as they walked back towards the house.

"Um, no. I meant back in January, not a few minutes ago," he couldn't believe he was starting to blush.

"Oh, I see," Severus said, realization dawning. Then he smiled. It was odd, Sirius thought, the way Severus smiled when thinking about Dinah. It was a little different than the way he'd smiled at Lily when they were kids. "That time," Severus said. "You know, I've been meaning to thank you about that."

"Thank me?" That was an unusual thing to say. Thanks for letting my girlfriend slap you. Who said things like that?

"Yes, for calling me Snivellus that time. I'm sorry it turned out to be such a painful experience for you," he said, not actually sounding very sorry at all, "but that ended up being a real turning point in my relationship with Dinah. One of many, to be sure, but I think that was an important one. I started to… think about things differently then…" he trailed off, not elaborating further on the meaning of it, but Sirius guessed that it probably had something to do with Dinah defending him in a way Lily never had before by hitting him. After that point, the two's relationship had seemed to improve.

"Oh, um, you're welcome I guess," he replied, shrugging. "I suppose it was just as well. I was going to have to explain that to Lucy sooner or later. She kept asking questions." He hadn't wanted to explain that to Lucy. Hadn't wanted to disappoint her. He had, in fact, convinced himself that he _couldn't _explain that to Lucy. She used to look at him like he was one of the most amazing people she'd ever met. He hadn't wanted to disappoint her and make that look go away.

"I also," Sirius began as something new occurred to him, "sometimes worry about what she can handle. You know how she got after I was killed? I didn't want a repeat of that. I mean, I put a lot of blame on her father. He took her away and no one seems to know what he did with her for seven months. Lucy says she doesn't remember and I don't want to press her, especially now. I've never met her father and I don't particularly want to unless it's something she wants me to do but I wish there was some way we could find out what happened. I think it would go a long way to helping her."

"I think," said Severus slowly, "That if you give her time, she will remember."

Sirius stopped in front of the door to Hogsmeade House, but didn't open it. "You know something, don't you? You were in the Order. Your main purpose was spying. If anyone would know you would…actually I think Tonks would but I already asked her and she doesn't. So, what do you know?"

Severus sighed. "I was trying to subtly hint that whether I know anything or not is irrelevant. You need to have Lucy tell you or she'll be upset. But I do think there might be ways to encourage her to do so."

Sirius looked at him suspiciously. The man knew something. He was sure of it. His eyes narrowed, "Does Dinah know?"

"Not unless Lucy told her."

"Okay now I _know_ you know something."

"If I do then so do Molly, Arthur, Lupin, and Tonks. Give them the third degree. Meanwhile our pizza is getting cold." He knocked on the door.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: So this chapter has a conversation where Lucy and Dinah talk about what they may or may not use food for...in the bedroom. animalwriter and I talked about it and we decided since it doesn't go beyond talking about it that we'd leave it in the story and tack on a little warning for anyone who might not want to read about such things. We're also hoping it's okay for a T rating :-P We hope you enjoy this chapter (and the story) and please leave us a review! Thanks!

Chapter 11

"Why are they _knocking_?" Dinah gave Lucy an odd look when there was a pounding on the Hogsmeade door, as they both stood up from their seats in the sitting room.

Lucy shrugged, "Sirius is weird."

"Okay..." Dinah walked up and opened the door to be greeted by Severus holding two boxes of pizza and looking pointedly away from Sirius who was glaring at him. "Severus! Why are _you _the one knocking? Doesn't Sirius have a key to his own house?"

"Take the pizza," her husband shoved the boxes at her and walked in.

She opened the top one to the most appealing sight and smell she'd ever laid eyes on. Actually, it was rather weird but she wasn't going to argue. It looked delicious. "Shrimp! Rosmerta is a genius!"

Lucy glared at Sirius who was still glaring at Severus, "Shrimp? You let her put shrimp on a pizza. I hate shrimp."

"The other one doesn't have shrimp on it," he said, handing her the cake, pudding, and ice cream.

"I'll go put this in the freezer. Would you like to help me, Severus?"

Severus seemed to jump at the opportunity and followed Lucy.

"Hey, wait!" Dinah said with her mouth full of shrimp pizza. "What are you-?" But he was already gone, leaving her with the agitated-looking Sirius. She grinned. "Thanks. Shrimp's good."

"It was all Rosmerta's doing." His eyes narrowed as he continued to look at her, "Do you know what Lucy's father did after I was dead?"

Dinah almost choked on her pizza; "What?"

"Lucy's father, Henley. After I was gone. Lu was pretty depressed. Molly wrote Henley because she thought it was the right thing to do and he came and took Lucy away. No one saw her again for seven months. Lucy says she doesn't remember. But she sometimes thinks she's protecting me by not telling me about how bad things were for her when I was dead. If that's what she's doing I'd bet she'd have told you about it. Or, the more likely scenario, I think, Severus knows because he was in the Order at that time and he's told you."

Dinah paused and digested all of this. She didn't want to have to talk to Sirius about Lucy's issues behind her back, and she didn't want to abandon her shrimp pizza when it needed her the most. But he was looking at her in a way that insisted she say at least _something_. "Severus hasn't told me anything," she shook her head; "He actually has a lot of respect for other people's privacy so if he knew he wouldn't tell unless he knew it was okay." There. Hopefully Sirius would just take that information and run with it and not think to ask her if Lucy had told her. Then she could get back to her shrimp.

Fortunately he didn't have a chance to respond when Lucy and Severus came back into the room carrying four glasses.

"We thought we might like glasses for the pumpkin juice rather than having a communal jug," Lucy said, setting down a glass in front of Sirius and keeping one for herself.

"Sure, pumpkin juice sounds – what is this?" She took the glass with the umbrella her husband handed her. It didn't match the other three in any way.

"Your new favorite beverage," he said, smiling pleasantly, and sat down in front of the pizza box she had just set down.

Dinah stared at the cherry syrup and soda she was holding – complete with an umbrella just the way Professor Flitwick would have ordered it. "You know – _darling _– you are getting just a little bit too much amusement out of this cherry syrup and soda thing – No! My pizza!" she dove down at Severus and yanked his arm away from his mouth where he was just about to eat a slice of the shrimp pizza she had lovingly set aside for herself.

"Hey!" he pulled back.

"No, no, mine!" she successfully got it away from him. "Here, you can have this one, the shrimp's mine," she shoved the second box at him and started devouring the slice.

Lucy laughed, "Um, okay so Sirius and I don't get any pizza?"

"I think all three of us need to share this other one," Severus muttered, setting the second box in the middle of them.

"It's just as well. I've heard that it's a bad idea to eat for two anyway. I mean since I wouldn't normally eat a whole pizza by myself I probably shouldn't now just because I'm pregnant," Lucy said, grabbing a slice from the plain side.

"Yes, well Dinah normally _would _eat a whole pizza by herself," Severus said, taking a ham piece.

"I heard that!" Dinah said, but wasn't really annoyed. After all, as long as she had her shrimp pizza she needed nothing else.

Hm. These pregnancy hormones really _were _strange things.

"Rosmerta says congrats by the way. And she's not serving you anything stronger than pumpkin juice," Sirius said, "Oh, and Severus pretty much told everyone in Madam Puddifoot's that you two were pregnant. I think he was ashamed to be seen there with me. And here I was thinking we were going to be together forever."

Dinah almost choked on her pizza for the second time that day, but this time it was from laughter. Oddly enough, Severus nearly choked on his pumpkin juice at the same time, which only made the situation more amusing. "Nice, Sev. I guess you plus Madam Puddifoot's equals extreme awkwardness, huh? We should make a point to go there together next year."

"Over my dead body."

Laughing, Lucy said, "It's okay we don't actually eat there either. We get everything to go. I'm pretty sure Madam Puddifoot thinks we only use her shop for sex food, which is probably not helped by my tendency to look rather pink in there. Though what she thinks we do with the puffed rice treats and fudge pops I can't figure out."

Dinah giggled; "Those don't sound particularly conducive to food sex. Although I suppose fudge pops could..." she blushed and went back to her pizza. "No way, that sounds awful. Only a masochist would want that."

"Unbelievable," Severus flushed and hid it by putting his forehead in his hand and staring down at the table. "Seven more months of this..."

Lucy blushed and held up a single finger, "Once. I refused to do it again. This one," she said, jerking at thumb at Sirius, "couldn't understand why until I stuck the fudge pop on his…well you know."

"Wow, you're braver than me," Dinah said, awestruck. "What about the puffed rice treats, what were those for?"

"He was sculpting," Lucy said, closing her eyes as if it was easier to talk about when she wasn't looking at Dinah. "Well, not really sculpting so much as fashioning what amounted to edible underwear out of them."

"You two are bizarrely creative. Any other weird things you-"

"We are not here to get sex tips from your disturbed friends!" Severus exclaimed at once, the conversation apparently becoming too much for him to handle.

"Here," Dinah said sweetly, sticking a piece of her beloved shrimp pizza in his face. "Pizza?"

"Eat the pizza. Eat the pizza," Sirius muttered.

Lucy ignored them both, "Well there's always the hot fudge incident or the fire whiskey night. I'd also recommend food and beverage adventures take place in a room without carpet or things like a bed or couch. Sheets are easier to clean than a whole couch but I think it's just easier to be a little more adventurous. I mean if you're already going the food route…"

"I have a basement," Dinah perked up.

Lucy nodded, "Personally I find the kitchen easiest for transporting the food, but then the shower's good too. I mean it's right there when you're tired of being sticky so you can just turn it on and then you can have adventures with soap!"

Sirius looked at Severus, apparently starting to get embarrassed, "Were they like this at school?"

"_No_. At least, not _this_ bad," Severus, on the other hand, looked like he'd given up.

"Oh, all right, all right, we'll stop." Dinah laughed, still waggling the pizza in front of him. "But just beware of when I come after you with soap."

"Later," he said under his breath so the others couldn't hear, and she felt her face flush in response.

She grinned. "Come on, eat the pizza. I'm sharing now."

"You'd better not change your mind after I've already eaten it," he retorted, but finally consented and took the slice from her.

"Dinah's blushing!" Lucy pointed out, "She must be thinking about things."

"Oh, just eat your pizza," Sirius told her, holding up some melted cheese in front of her face.

Dinah laughed and leaned back on the couch. "This is fun, isn't it? Who says hormones are a bad thing?"

"Men," Lucy insisted, "Men say it so they have something to blame the bad moods on."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed, "You think about that later when your friends are playing don't drop the soap and we're lying in that bed with the old bed frame that you loved so much. You know, the one that squeaks."

Lucy pouted, "If they're playing in the bathroom I don't think they're going to care if the bed squeaks."

"Speaking of bathrooms," Dinah said; "There's this American shampoo which has very interesting commercials. Maybe I could find the video on the internet and show it to you."

"No!" Severus cut in, finishing the pizza slice, "No more Muggle videos. You _don't _want me to be mad at you tonight."

"Oh, good point," Dinah smiled, glad Severus was finally loosening up and getting into their light-hearted discussion at least a little bit. "I'll show it some other day."

Lucy shrugged, "That's fine." She lifted the empty pizza box, "It looks like we're done with this one. How you doing on the shrimp, Dinah?"

"Two pieces left. Anyone want them?" she didn't want to be _too _rude, so she held up the box, but she was pretty sure she looked extremely pitiful as she stared down at the two remaining pieces, her mouth positively watering at the idea of finishing them off.

Lucy giggled, "No, no. You go ahead. I find shrimp incredibly disgusting myself. I'm hoping I don't develop cravings for foods I'd generally refuse to eat."

Dinah smiled, devouring the pizza. "Well, I'd normally eat this, but I don't think I'd be quite this enthusiastic about it. You know, I've heard tales of pregnant women getting cravings for things like paint chips, ice cubes, and laundry detergent. Personally, I'd rather stick with pickles and sardines, if I had the choice."

"I can get on board with the ice cubes, but laundry detergent and paint chips? Yeah, I think I'd eat shrimp pizza first."

Dinah laughed, finishing the final piece and washing it down with cherry syrup and soda. "You know, Severus, I take it back. This drink was an excellent choice. It really hit the spot."

"So glad you think so," he replied with an amused smile. "Now let's go get the dessert."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure that's a good idea. What with the conversation those two just had?"

"Oh, hush," Lucy said, swatting at him, "I want to eat it, not play with it."

"I'll go get the dessert!" Dinah sprung from her seat and ran towards the kitchen. She grabbed the two boxes from the counter and the one from the freezer, along with some bowls, plates, forks, and spoons, and carried them back into the room. She took one of the unfrozen boxes and plopped down next to Severus. She opened the box and peered inside, and her face fell. "Oh. Pudding."

Severus sighed. "You wanted vanilla."

"No, no, chocolate's good. But I wanted it _on _the cake."

"Then say so!"

Lucy shook her head, "We take it for granted that you're smart men who could have figured that out."

"I will not have my intelligence measured by my ability or lack thereof to read the hormonal desires of newly pregnant women," Severus muttered, snatching the box of pudding from Dinah and spooning some into a bowl.

"Say that three times fast," Dinah giggled, slicing herself a piece of cake.

Lucy put her piece of cake in a bowl and covered it with pudding and ice cream, "How about the hormonal desires of very pregnant women? Because that's bound to happen eventually and we may find ourselves in need of some strange concoction only you can provide, oh great and powerful Potions Master."

Severus smirked. "There are draughts that can be prepared. The question is whether it will be okay to just give them to you or whether I'll have to sneak it into your pumpkin juice."

Sirius's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean by that?"

"Down boy," Lucy said, patting his knee. "I don't think he meant anything nefarious by it."

Dinah laughed, piling chocolate pudding onto her cake; "You two. You're doing so good but you still have those negative instincts sometimes."

"That wasn't my fault," Severus snapped. "Madam Puddifoot's was affecting me."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"There was a lot of pink and an incident that suggested some…things and I teased him. I think perhaps he was offended at the idea of people thinking we were together. Apparently I'm not good enough for him," Sirius said, smirking.

Dinah burst out laughing; "Oh, Severus, I _have _to see this. We are _definitely _going to Madam Puddifoot's sometime next year."

"But-" Severus looked stricken, "But you _can't_!"

"Oh, can't I?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Give me your bowl, you're not getting any food until you promise never to take me into that pink hell-hole ever again," he grabbed the bowl and tugged.

"No!" she tugged back, "My dessert!"

"You didn't want the cake like this anyway!" he pulled it towards him.

"I fixed it by putting the pudding on top," she pulled it back towards herself.

"It's not the same!"

"It's close enough! And we're still going to Madam Puddifoot's!"

"No, we're not!"

"Yes, we are!"

Lucy bit her lip to keep from laughing, "And you used to laugh at us, Dinah?"

Dinah managed to yank the bowl out of Severus's grasp and went back to happily devouring her pudding-cake. "When did I ever laugh at you?"

"I can't think of an example right now, but I'm sure you did," she yawned and set her bowl aside. "Probably last Christmas. After that I think you found us generally less amusing for awhile."

"Yeah, well... there were things going on," she idly stirred her pudding around in the bowl and rested her head on Severus's shoulder, smiling as he leaned in to her and began running his fingers through her hair. "But, yes. You and your whole Monopoly game thing. Rather amusing. You can't begrudge us acting a little silly too now, can you?" she grinned at her friend.

Lucy laughed, "Oh, no, not at all." Sirius put his arm around her and pulled her close to his side, sticking his nose in her hair and inhaling. "Would you stop sniffing me?"

"No. You ready for bed? You appear to be half asleep already."

She opened her eyes wide, "No, I'm not. See? Wide awake."

Dinah giggled. "You two really are amusing. But it's pretty late. We've done a lot today – shopping, baby drama, the beach, Monopoly, food adventures... well not _the _food adventures, the more tame variety, but still."

Severus laughed, "_You _seem tired."

"Maybe," she held up her bowl, "Food coma."

"I tried to take it away but you wouldn't let me," he said, kissing the top of her head.

Sirius stood and lifted Lucy off the couch. "You _are _sleeping and we are going to bed."

Lucy gestured limply at the remnants of their feast, "But we have to clean up," she whined.

He rolled his eyes and waved his wand at the dishes, sending them on their way to be cleaned, "There. Now can we go to bed?"

"Mmmmk."

Dinah smiled and stood, letting her bowl float away with the rest of them. "I think they have the right idea, don't you?"

"I'm not going anywhere with _you _until you promise not to take me to Madam Puddifoot's," Severus replied stubbornly.

"Oh, really?" she leaned in close to him, stroking his cheek with one finger. "Are you sure? Because it would be so much fun to go there together. And I highly doubt you want to sleep on this horridly lumpy couch. No offense, Lucy, I'm exaggerating."

"Not in front of-" he flushed and then broke off as she kissed him, then groaned, "Fine, we'll go. But we're not done discussing this Madam Puddifoot thing."

"I wouldn't dream of it," she took his hand and they headed away from the couch. "Well," she grinned at Lucy, who was apparently only half-conscious in Sirius's arms; "Thanks for today. Guess I'll see you two in the morning, then."

"Good night," Sirius said, carefully making his way up the stairs and into his and Lucy's bedroom.

"That was fun," Dinah said as she and Severus made it into their own room and closed the door behind them.

"What part of it?" Severus asked, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her close.

"Mmm, everything," she murmured, tilting her head to the side to allow him the access he needed to start a trail of kisses down her neck to her shoulders. "The um...beach, and...er, food, and...Monopoly...well, you weren't kidding when you said 'later' down there, were you?"

"Not in the least."

"I wonder if Lucy and Sirius will find the strength to do what they were talking about, too."

"Does it _really _matter what they're doing?"

She laughed, "Guess not. They're the ones with the squeaky bed, not us."

"Dinah..."

"Mmmmm," it was more of a moan than a murmur now. She just loved when he said her name like that. And, after all, she was discovering that her food coma was nowhere near as strong as it had seemed downstairs.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews so far! Yes, Kat Dinah was referring to Herbal Essence commercials :-P Just a word of warning to those of you who are or get this far soon. I'm going to be off camping tomorrow for a week so there will be a break in posting but not to worry I have more ready to post when I return.

Chapter 12

"Mmm," Dinah said for the umpteenth time that evening, smiling blissfully as she curled up in the covers and leaned back into Severus, who was holding her tightly from behind, his head over her shoulder and leaning against hers.

"You know," he said, "I finally thanked Sirius."

"_Thanked _him? For what?"

"That time in January. Calling me Snivellus, making you hit him."

"You're happy about that?" It was the strangest statement her husband had ever made, and it got her attention. Normally, she would have scolded him for saying 'Snivellus' at all, as she hated that word, but his comment had her distracted.

He laughed, and she had to smile again as the warm rumbling ran through her body, making her sleepy. "Things got better after that, didn't they?"

"Yes," she said softly, "They did. I guess I made an impression on you."

"It meant more to me than you could ever know," he insisted softly, tightening his embrace around her. "It made me realize that this was possible."

"This?" She was getting tired now, and not following the conversation as best as she might have when more awake.

Severus laughed again. She was glad she could be an amusement to him. "Yes. _This_." He turned her head towards him and kissed her.

"Oh," she flushed and smiled, "This." She had always suspected it but had never voiced the thought. There had been so much going on at the time, it had never really come up. But as soon as she'd defended him he had become more affectionate. He had become more affectionate after their Christmas date together as well, but it had been awkward. She had been more worried about him than anything, because the fact that he wanted to be with her had begun to stress him out. Those few weeks in early January had been hard, as he insisted that he would never be able to let Lily go but still wanted to be with her. There had been a lot of issues for both of them at the time. But then when they became children and she hit Sirius, that had changed. He had started _trying _to love her.

"I love you," he said, reading her thoughts.

"Severus..."

"Do I tell you that enough?" he asked, nuzzling her neck, "I love you, I love you, I love you."

She closed her eyes and leaned into him, feeling warmer and happier than ever. He got like this sometimes, telling her over and over again how much he loved her. He still felt guilty about making her wait this long, but he really didn't have to. Still, it always made her think of the Severus from before, the one who had been struggling with his feelings for Lily, afraid he could never love her. That seemed like ages ago now. But she was lucky. Now he was holding her, and she knew without a doubt that she was the only one he wanted. It felt so good when he reminded her of it. "You can tell me as much as you want," she whispered; "But I know it's true, anyway."

"I know," he murmured, meeting her eyes and smiling. His smile always made her melt. "Never forget that."

"I won't," she let him kiss her, and they snuggled together for awhile. Dinah was just drifting off into a pleasant sleep when something that had happened earlier that day – well, two things, actually – came to mind. "Severus?"

"Yes?"

She turned and met his questioning gaze. "Do you know what happened to Lucy when her father took her away for seven months?"

He stared at her for a moment, and then frowned. "I know. Do you?"

"If I say no, will you tell me what happened?"

"No."

She smiled. "Lucy told me this morning, when we were at home shopping. About St. Mungo's."

He nodded. "I figured you probably knew, the way you were talking. It doesn't bother you that I wasn't going to tell you otherwise?"

"You know me better than that," she said, resting her head against his own and twining her fingers with his. "Besides, Lucy would be upset if you told anyone. I know we have to respect her privacy. I'm not offended."

He smiled, brushing a few strands of hair away from her face, "I didn't think you would be."

"Yes. The only reason I mentioned it is because Sirius blindsided me with it while you and Lucy were in the kitchen putting the food away. I think he's getting suspicious."

"He is. He's becoming_ very_ suspicious. He was drilling me on it when we came back with the food. Wasn't dropping the subject once he figured out that I knew something. That's why I had to knock."

"I see. Did you let _on _that you knew something?"

"A bit," he admitted, frowning again. "He made some good points, and I was trying to at least clue him in to the fact that Lucy remembers more than she's telling him. He needs to know, but she needs to tell him on her own. I hoped I could push that forward a little bit, but I don't know if it worked."

She smiled, "That's so sweet of you."

"Yes, well..." he flushed a little.

Dinah laughed and closed her eyes for a moment, cuddling closer. Then she turned serious again; "It's true, though. He really _needs _to know. I'm not sure what Lucy's afraid of, but if they're going to get married then that's an important piece of information to divulge. She'll never fully heal until she gets it off her chest. You saw how she reacted to his comment about St. Mungo's this morning."

"Indeed," Severus agreed. "But that doesn't tell us how it should be handled. It's not really any of our business, anyway."

"Says you, who subtly tried to influence the situation this afternoon," she grinned.

"Oh, shut up," he sighed and fell back on the pillow. "Well, what do you think should be done? Could _you _talk to Lucy about it?"

"Honestly, I'm not always very convincing with her. She can be quite stubborn."

"That doesn't help."

"No," she frowned. "Well, I guess there really _isn't _much we can do."

"Which is what I just said."

"I _know _that's what you just said, I was simply repeating it!"

"Well, fine then!" He paused and then started laughing.

Dinah giggled, feeling her face turn red. She loved it when he laughed like that. Actually, she was rather obsessed with everything about him. "What?"

"Are we _really _just as bad as them?"

She joined his laughter. "It's okay, it's fun. And at least we're more stable than they are, emotionally and all that."

"Yes, I confess that I enjoy our emotional stability," he said, pulling her into his embrace. "Took long enough, though."

"That's only half my fault."

He smiled, "Do we have to do _everything _together?"

"Not everything," she smiled, toying with his long hair, yet another feature she loved about him. "Just certain things."

"Like going downstairs and getting the rest of the pudding?"

"SEVERUS!" she exclaimed, probably too loudly, her face as red as a beet. If Lucy and Sirius heard that they'd probably think she was ...in pleasure, or something, which only made her turn redder.

"I'm _kidding_," he teased, laughing and pulling her down so that she was lying on top of him and sliding his fingers into her hair. "Be quiet, you'll wake the whole house."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling like she was on fire. "It's just that comment... so out of character... surprised me..."

"I noticed," he murmured, chuckling and massaging her neck, calming her. "Now, be quiet. We have to pretend we're asleep now so as not to give your friends the wrong impression."

"Pretend?" she repeated, still flushed, her hands resting on his bare chest.

"Unless you're tired."

"I will be," she smiled and kissed him, "In just a little bit."

* * *

><p>"Are you really that tired?" Sirius asked, laying Lucy down on their bed.<p>

She giggled, "No, just trying to get you alone." She grabbed the front of his robes and pulled him down to her.

"You little…" he didn't get to finish when she cut his words off with a kiss. It wasn't long, though, before he pulled away and looked at her, concerned. "Are you sure?"

"About having my way with you? Quite sure."

He laughed, "No, I mean are you sure it's okay? For the baby?"

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not a pregnancy expert but it can't be bigger than a pea. It's floating around happy and safe in my well-padded body."

Sirius lay on his side next to her, placing his hand on her stomach. Her hand covered his. Clearly he was in more of a contemplative mood at the moment.

"What do you think it will be?"

Lucy sighed, "I think it will be happy. With us as parents how could it not be? I also think it will remain small and unnoticeable until _after_ the wedding."

"About the wedding…are you planning on inviting your father?"

Her heart sank. She didn't want to talk about that. "I don't think so. Uncle Arthur will be there. He's the dad my father never was. Why?"

"I was just thinking. I mean he's apparently the only one who knows where you were for all those months. We could ask him."

Lucy shook her head, "No. We are not talking to him. I'm happy. I don't want him touching this, ruining it. And that's the only thing that could happen if we let him around us, around the baby. No. He didn't want me. So, he doesn't have me and he's not getting any part of me."

"Okay, okay," he said softly, "It was just a thought. I wouldn't do something like that without your okay. I thought he could help. I don't want you to have this big empty hole in your life. Not if it can be helped."

Lucy grabbed his face and kissed him, "Thank you, but I'm okay with having a missing piece. You're the biggest piece, the most important, and that missing piece can't even begin to compete."

His eyes softened and he kissed her nose. He had a thing for her nose. "I love you."

"Love you, too," she rolled him over so she could lie on his chest, "Now are you going to let me seduce you or not?"

"Oh, I think so," he said, pulling her head down for a kiss.

"Severus!" Dinah's voice came from down the hall.

Lucy couldn't help it; she started laughing and hid her face in Sirius's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said, chuckling, "I don't think I can…now."

"That's okay," Lucy said, lifting her head. She could tell it was quite red again, "I don't think I can either."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Sirius stood in the kitchen making coffee. He and Lucy might have gone to bed early but they also woke up early and found all the squeaky places in the bed again. Now Lucy was back to sleep. She was going to have to get up soon though, and the coffee would help.<p>

Waiting for the coffee to brew, he opened the small window over the sink and looked out. The house wasn't in the center of town and they had views of the hills and forests on most sides. It was one of the things he'd liked about the house. Behind him the kitchen door squeaked. Assuming it was Lucy coming down, he didn't turn around. She liked to be fairly quiet when she first got up for the day.

"Good morning," said, instead, a much deeper and less interested-sounding voice. Sirius turned to see that Severus had walked into the room with Dinah behind him.

"Morning," he returned and gestured to where the coffee was percolating, "Coffee should be just about ready. Did you sleep well?" he couldn't resist tacking on that question.

"Uh... well," Dinah said, turning a tiny bit red as Severus gave a little cough. They both sat down at the table.

"We slept pretty well. Lucy must have been worn out. She was dead to the world as soon as her head hit the pillow."

"But did you have a good _morning_?" Severus asked lightly, probably getting even for Sirius's comment and having heard the bed squeak.

He wasn't the least embarrassed though, "A very good morning. Which would be why Lucy's upstairs sleeping again and I'm down here making coffee. She'll want it when she gets up."

"Um, you do realize that pregnant women aren't supposed to drink coffee, I hope," Severus said with his characteristic eyebrow raised.

_Now_ he was embarrassed, "No. No, I didn't. I guess you and I will have to drink it all, Severus. We'll be very awake, for a while at least. Maybe we'll crash about the time Lu decides to take Dinah back to the dress shop. Then we can sleep through that whole experience."

Dinah laughed; "I'd love to see that. Drink lots of coffee, Severus."

"You know, sometimes I think you only keep me around for your morbid amusement," Severus muttered, causing his wife to laugh again.

Sirius chuckled and poured the finished coffee. He handed Severus a mug, pointing out the cream and sugar on the table. "You want anything, Dinah?"

"Just water, I think, is fine. Well, maybe a glass of milk. Do you have chocolate milk? No, orange juice. Definitely orange juice."

"Get all three," Severus advised. "And throw in some pickles - ow!" he flinched when she hit him.

"I didn't hit you that hard," she muttered, and then turned back to Sirius. "Just orange juice is fine, really."

"All right, but are you sure you wouldn't like sardines, too? We do have them. For Dora," he felt the need to point out that he and Lucy didn't eat sardines. They kept them for the cat.

Dinah flushed, "Don't you both gang up on me. _Just orange juice._"

He laughed, handing Dinah the glass of orange juice he'd poured, and sat down at the table across from them. For awhile he looked down into his coffee cup before getting the courage to look Severus in the eyes. "You're a Legilimens, aren't you?"

Both Severus's and Dinah's eyes lifted at once. They stared at him for a few moments and then exchanged glances. Finally, Severus turned back and said, in the slow monotone that usually came out when he was suspicious about something; "Yes..."

"Do you think," he said slowly, "you could use it on Luce and see if maybe we could find out what went on that way? With her permission, of course. I wouldn't ask you to do something like that to her without her knowledge. I think she needs to know what happened and deal with it. I asked her about her father last night and she's not inviting him to the wedding. Wants nothing to do with him. I don't blame her but I'm not going to go behind her back and talk to him either. I don't know what else to do."

Their reaction was an odd one. Dinah looked exceedingly uncomfortable and put a nervous hand on Severus's arm. His eyes flashed to her in acknowledgment for a quick moment and then they were both just staring at Sirius. It felt like hours passed and Sirius was just starting to get very uncomfortable when Severus spoke. "Exactly how do you plan to get her to agree to this?"

"Well, I don't know. I hadn't planned that far ahead yet. Probably puppy-dog eyes. Those usually work. I figured I had to get you to agree to it first. Even if Lucy happened to jump at the chance, her agreement would be rather pointless if you refused."

"Yes, well..." Severus said, still in that cautious tone while Dinah continued to watch them, her eyes darting back and forth between each of their faces in turn. "I don't believe you should frame this as anything but your own idea. I refuse to do a thing without both of your permission and she needs to know that. I did not come up with this suggestion."

"What suggestion?" Lucy asked, yawning and coming into the room. She looked like she could happily crawl back into bed for another hour.

Sirius grabbed her hand before she could walk past and held her there. "I was thinking Severus could use his…skills to possibly find out what happened with your father. With your permission, of course."

Lucy sighed and dropped her head, "I've let that go. Why can't you?"

Dinah looked more nervous at her comment, her grip on Severus's arm tightening a bit. Her husband just looked at her and gave a slight nod, and she seemed to relax a little. Sirius turned to Lucy and tried to come up with a good answer.

"Because I don't think you have," he said. "I think that you want me to think you have or that it doesn't bother you, so you don't have to deal with it. We got through the me dying thing. We can get through this too."

Lucy sighed again. He knew she couldn't say no to his puppy-dog eyes. "Okay. But do you think we could do this in private?" she was looking towards Severus for his agreement.

Severus raised en eyebrow at her, looking more confused than anything else.

"Please?" she asked.

"I want to be there for you," Sirius told her.

"And you will be. But I went through it alone the first time. If I have to go through it again I'd liked to do it alone," she turned again to Severus, "Please?"

He sighed and stood from the table. "All right. I'll go along with it. For now."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Lucy followed her former Potions master up to the empty bedroom, knowing he was not pleased with her. But she'd panicked. She hadn't known what else to do but agree to Sirius's crazy scheme and this had bought her time. Not much, but still, time.

She closed the door behind her and faced away from Severus, resting her forehead on the door and keeping her eyes closed. "Please don't make me do this," she whispered.

Severus sighed. "First, let me point out that none of this was my idea. And second, do you really think it necessary to continue this charade? The idea was that Sirius's ludicrous legilimency question would encourage you to admit that you've known this entire time and have been keeping it from him."

Lucy turned on him, tears in her eyes, "Do you think I _want_ to keep this from him? That I want his best fried to keep _lying_ to him? Remus has urged me on numerous occasions to tell him but I _can't_."

"Third," Severus continued tersely, but there was a hint of sympathy in his eyes, something she had never seen when she had been going through her ordeal and he was a member of the Order. "I should also like to point out that you are intent upon marrying this man. Not an arrangement one should go into lightly with such secrets still withheld. He's pushing the matter because he wants – no, he _needs_ to know. I realize that you both have a difficulty sharing these kinds of things with each other. He needed a push to tell you what he did to me. Now we are trying to give you the push _you_ need to tell him about your issue, but you need to be responsive to it. Ordinarily, I am not inclined to become involved in others' business, but you have dug yourself into a hole and have in effect _made_ it everyone else's business. At least the business of everyone who knows and that has to come into regular contact with Sirius. Who is becoming rather desperate now, by the way."

She slid to the floor, head in her hands, "You don't get it. My father checked me in. He didn't check me out. I saw the papers. It was the _doctor_ who released me. They didn't need Henley's signature to check me out. If they didn't need that then why…why did they keep me for so long? I was depressed, yes, but I wasn't a danger to myself or others. I know because it's on the first page of my initial psych evaluation. Why did they keep me?"

Lucy didn't hear Severus say a word for a long time, and she didn't look up from where she was to see what the expression on his face was, either. Finally, he spoke, and his voice was quiet. "Did you ask them? You should legally be allowed to request that information. Perhaps you don't want to go near them again, which is, I suppose, understandable. I'm sorry, I can't answer that question. But isn't that something you could talk to Sirius about? How does this new information change the fact that you need to tell him about what happened?"

She sniffed and raised her head, wiping her eyes and nose on her sleeve, "I've seen the report. There's nothing there to explain why." Her eyes took on a faraway look, as if she wasn't seeing her actual surroundings. "Everyone looked at me like I was fragile, like one simple mission could be too much and I could snap. Everyone in the Order, except you. I can't have him look at me like that, I can't."

Severus paused again, and this time she watched the expressions on his face. He looked torn. It was an interesting thing. Obviously he had little experience in helping people with their problems and he had no idea how to react to her statements. He actually looked like he was starting to say something twice before he stopped and thought some more. Eventually, he sighed again. "I think that if you keep digging yourself into this hole, he is eventually going to be told by someone besides yourself. If Molly or Arthur or any of the others tell him, don't you think that they will frame it in a way that will cause him to see you like that? If you tell him, just the way you are telling me now, I don't think he could react that way. I know the others have kept your secret thus far, but I don't think they'll be able to go on forever, especially not as you are getting married. They are torn between the desire to allow you to work this out and tell him on your own and Sirius's growing desperation which is not unwarranted. How can you expect your friends to choose between these two conflicting points? And yet, the fact that they've given you this much time to tell him on your own, I think, implies that they give you more credit than you are giving yourself."

Lucy snorted, "Do you often give yourself a lot of credit, Mr. Former Death Eater?" She sat in silence for a few moments, staring at the wall. "He's impulsive," she whispered.

"Exactly what does this have to do with me?" Severus asked, his tone dangerously quiet. "I didn't ask to be involved in this. I told you - you and Sirius are making this everyone else's business. And _you_ are the one who begged me to come in here. If you'd rather, I can leave right now. Dinah and I will go home, tell Sirius to deal with the problem on his own. If you don't want anyone else involved, just say the word. But don't expect anyone to hang around you unless you never talk about this issue again. Maybe he's impulsive and that's why he keeps asking everyone about this. But it's been a year and he's gotten no information from you. He senses it's bothering you. Did you ever think that maybe he's asking because he cares? Yes, I know I'm not the foremost expert on romantic relationships. But I can tell you that I'm happy now. More than I've ever been in my life and that's because I know Dinah trusts me, no matter what I've done. I have told her, you know - about the things I did as a Death Eater. It wasn't easy, but we worked through it. You can do the same. But I'm not going to be put in the middle of this anymore. You have to make a decision."

Lucy shook her head, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I didn't mean to put you guys in the middle of this. Would you believe me if I told you this didn't start out as keeping it from Sirius specifically? He was dead when I came out; there was no reason to keep it from him. I didn't want _anyone_ to know. The thing is, when he came back there never seemed to be a good time to tell him. And then I got to thinking. He's impulsive and he wants to protect me. I just…I have this feeling that he's going to rush off and do something stupid, get himself thrown back into Azkaban. I need him to stay. And you guys, too. You stay. I know the last couple days probably haven't shown it but we do have fun with you and I think we might need some fun."

Severus sighed, absently running a hand through his hair. Dinah had mentioned before that he did that when frustrated and that she found it attractive, but it was odd to see for the first time. "I'm not angry. And I know you don't want to put us in the middle. For what it's worth, I don't think this is the right way to go about this. And I'm one-hundred percent certain that Dinah feels the same way, given her behaviors down there. Nobody wants to force you to do something you're not ready to do. And nobody wants to be talking about you behind your back. But it's hard to know how to respond when Sirius keeps pressing the issue. So it's not just you."

Lucy laughed, "I know. I about had a heart attack in the kitchen. I panicked, I'll admit that. It was just a matter of time I guess." She stood, "If you're going to make me do this I suppose we'd better get it over with."

Severus just stared at her. "Do what? There's no real need for me to perform legilimency on you since you already know what happened. Unless there are parts of it you're uncertain about."

"No, no. I think some things are better left to mystery. Besides, I'm sure there are some memories floating around in there you'd rather not see," she laughed at his expression. "Actually I meant going downstairs and fessing up."

"Ah," he smiled a little. "Good. But are you sure about this?"

Lucy sighed, "No, but I can't keep running from it forever. I know Sirius and if he's interrogating you and Dinah about it then it's really starting to bug him."

"What about his reaction to the information?"

"I don't know," she said, hugging herself; "He'll probably be mad, but you can't really blame him, can you? He has to stay, though. He just has to stay."

"I can't see him leaving you. He's different from the reckless Sirius Black in the Order days. You're his first priority now, I think. He hasn't been asking what happened to you with an attitude of revenge on who's responsible, he's been asking with concern for _you_. Either way, if he does choose to behave recklessly, do you have some kind of intervention plan?"

She shook her head, "No. I could always let you hang him upside down by his toes."

He laughed. "I'm not sure that would be productive for any of the parties involved. But if things get out of hand, perhaps it would be good for all of us to be present. But I also see where you would want to speak with him alone. Dinah and I will only be as involved as you want us to be. So it's your call. Not Sirius's. Yours."

Lucy surprised Severus by hugging him, "Thanks. The two of you might as well stick around. If I'm going to tell one of you I might as well tell all of you. There are, after all, things even you don't know. Unless Dumbledore had you spying around in my head, that is."

"Er... yes, you're... um... welcome, I suppose," Severus said awkwardly, flushing. "And no, I only know what the rest of the Order knows. Though I appreciate you suggesting if I did spy in your head it was Dumbledore's idea and not my own. I didn't, by the way." He seemed rather insistent that she know that.

"I didn't think you did. If you had you'd have known about the time I spent two days helping Gilderoy Lockhart sign autographs or the pudding cups Mrs. Longbottom started giving me towards the end."

"I see," he smirked, "Well, I'm sure those things were interesting but I don't think they were necessary information. But that's over with now." He hesitated a moment and then put a hand on her shoulder. "We need to go back down there."

She sighed, "I know. I'm avoiding it. Planning and execution are two different beasts."

"Indeed. But the best thing to do is begin walking." He led her to the door and opened it, but then stopped, waiting for her to make the first move over the threshold.

Lucy took a deep breath and took the first step. Halfway down the stairs though, she found she couldn't go any farther.

Severus leaned against the wall. "How much time do you need?"

She shook her head and sat, "I don't. Go ahead. I'm okay. Sirius?" she called.

"Right here," he answered. If she sat up straight and stretched a bit she could just see him sitting across from Dinah in the sitting room.

"All right..." Severus headed down the stairs and entered the room.

"Severus?" Dinah walked up to him.

"Everything's fine now," he said, taking her hand into his. "I think." They sat down next to each other, watching Lucy and Sirius watch each other across the hall.

"Sit," Lucy said, patting the stair next to her.

He walked over to her and sat, looking at her, "You okay?"

She knew she probably looked horrendous. Rather than answering right away she grabbed his hand and held it in her lap. Laying her head on his shoulder she closed her eyes and whispered, "I remember."

"It worked then?"

There was a moment there where she could have lied to him. She could have let him think they had plumbed the depths of her mind and found the answers he sought but that would have just been one more lie she'd eventually have to confess. "He didn't do it. He didn't have to. I've always known."

"So, you lied to me?" he didn't _sound_ angry but she wasn't looking at him either so it was hard to judge how he was taking that information.

"Well…I-I…um…"

"It was never her intention to do so," Severus said from across the room, saving Lucy from her stammering.

Dinah nodded agreement. "I think it must have been... just one of those things where it gets harder and harder the longer you put it off, until you can't pull yourself out of the hole you've dug anymore. I mean, that happened to me yesterday... with the baby and stuff."

Lucy frantically nodded, "Yes, exactly. I wasn't trying to keep it from you specifically. At least not at first. I didn't want _anyone_ to know."

"Know what?"

"My father. He, um, took me and checked me into the fourth floor of St. Mungo's. Ward 49 specifically. They kept me there for seven months. It was February when they let me go home. I really _don't_ remember going there or a lot of the time spent there, but I do remember being there," she sniffed, starting to cry again. "He took me away from _everyone_ and _everything_ I had left at the time. When I came back people looked at me like I was crazy. Like I was this fragile thing who could hardly handle doing something as mundane as passing the ketchup."

"Lucy," Sirius said, laying his head on top of hers, "You're not any crazier than I am."

"That's _not_ very encouraging."

"Honestly, we've all got our issues," Dinah said with a small smile. "Sirius isn't any crazier than we've all been at various points in our lives. I mean..." she hesitated. "Well, look at Severus and me for most of last year. Remember how messed up I was when we visited you at Christmas? You two were much more stable than us for a really long time. And you were the one that helped me through it at the time. I don't think anyone could ever look at you like that again, Lucy. Just because you've had difficulties doesn't mean you aren't functional. I think we need to be judged on how we are now, not how we've been in the past."

"That's pretty insightful, Dinah," Sirius complimented.

"Thanks. That's good to hear." In a repeat of yesterday morning, Lucy paled and muttered, "Excuse me," before rushing to the downstairs bathroom.

Dinah frowned slightly, "I'm glad I haven't had to deal with that."

"I hope you continue not having to deal with that," Severus said. "The emotional issues are enough for me to have to handle."

"Oh, hush," Dinah laughed, then nestled her head in his shoulder, "I don't know what you said up there but it seems to have made a world of difference."

Severus looked a little embarrassed. "I don't know. I wouldn't have even gone up there had Sirius not come up with the Legilimency question. I think this was just the natural progression of things that it would come out eventually. I just happened to be in the middle."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Sirius said, coming down from the stairs, "Lucy can be pretty stubborn when she wants to be."

Severus shrugged. "I simply said what I thought needed to be said."

"I feel," Lucy announced, coming out of the bathroom, "like I've been hit by someone on a high speed broom."

"And you look exhausted," Sirius said, "Why don't you go back to bed for awhile? I'll bring you something to eat. That is if you _want_ something."

"Yes, please. Pudding?" she turned to Dinah, pulling a folded piece of parchment out of her robes, "Would you do me a favor? Look this over and then send it out this morning? It's our letter to Minerva. I wrote it before I came down the first time. If you send it soon, we'll probably get a response by this afternoon."

"Sure," Dinah stood and took the parchment, giving Lucy a small smile. "It's like it was yesterday for me, probably. It's never as bad as you think it's going to be."

Lucy nodded and leaned down to hug Severus again, whispering in his ear, "Don't let him do anything stupid."

When Lucy looked at Dinah again she had to laugh at the expression on her friend's face. If she let her mouth and eyes hang open any wider they might freeze that way. She smiled. "Go ahead and read the letter," and headed up the stairs again.

"That's the second time in ten minutes," Severus muttered almost to himself, blushing awkwardly.

"No way," Dinah practically collapsed back onto the couch, staring at nothing in particular. After a moment she looked at Severus, grabbed his face and kissed him. "You are amazing, do you know that?"

"Can we please stop this?" his face only turned redder, "I can only handle so much in one day."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"'Dear Minerva,'" Dinah read from the parchment Lucy had handed her as the boys listened; "'Dinah and I have something very important we'd like to discuss with you about our classes next year. It is urgent, and thus we would like to speak with you as soon as possible. We are both in Hogsmeade for the next few days and would be happy to meet with you whenever it is convenient. Sincerely, Lucy Ketteridge.'" She set it down on the coffee table. "Simple enough. Straightforward and to the point."

"Yes, too bad it doesn't mention anything about being _pregnant,"_ Sirius had to point out.

"I don't really think that part should be in a letter," Dinah laughed; "I'll go get this sent then, unless you boys have some kind of problem with it."

"I liked my version better, but then Lu does have a way with words," Sirius said, "When she's not being hysterical that is."

Dinah smiled. "Sorry, no 'Minnie' for you. Do you two have an owl around? I didn't bring Rowena with me. Otherwise, I can take it to the post in town."

He shook his head, "No. We've been thinking of getting one but we've been spending most of our time up here rather than in London and the post office is just right down the road and Eeylops hasn't reopened yet…"

"Okay, I'll just take it to the post then. Can you two handle yourselves for the time being?"

"Actually, I think I'll come with you if you don't mind. I'll just go take up some pudding real quick and leave Lucy a note."

"Pudding," Dinah muttered after Sirius had wandered off. "I can't hear that word anymore without thinking about your stupid comment from last night."

Severus laughed; "I think you noticed that Sirius asked us how we slept in such a way that implied he heard you screaming last night."

Dinah's face felt on fire. She still found it odd that she had turned into somebody that blushed this much upon meeting Severus and that it hadn't died down much at all even now that they were married. "That's awful! I wasn't even screaming from _that..._although we still did it."

"Twice," Severus pointed out, smiling.

"Shh!" she hissed, "They don't need to know that! I'm sure they don't want to. But it wasn't rude that we did it in somebody else's house, right? They practically told us to!"

"I'm sure they expected it, after last night's..." he smirked slightly, _discussion_. And if their squeaking this morning is any indication they had no problem returning the favor."

Still flushing, Dinah nodded; "It's just a little weird is all...it's not like it was our bed. Yet they heard me scream. But I didn't _scream_ during _that_. The scream was totally unrelated."

"Would you like me to tell him that for you?"

"No! Don't tell him anything, they likely forgot about it – oh, quiet he's coming back," Dinah feigned an innocent, distracted expression as Sirius came back into the room.

"She'll be out for awhile. She's wrapped in blankets from her nose down and Dora's curled up at her feet," he looked from Dinah to Severus, "And just what were you two talking about while I was gone? Not thinking about having some adventures with the rest of the ice cream are you? On my bed?" he wiggled his eyebrows at them.

"You heard!" Dinah exclaimed.

"Oh, so you were actually talking about that? I was just guessing. You looked embarrassed so I assumed…"

"Oh, no," Dinah moaned, hiding her face in Severus's shoulder, "How embarrassing. Can I not be pregnant anymore, please, I'm losing my mind. Do you have a potion that can make the baby grow up and pop out right now?"

"I think not," Severus chuckled, standing. "Let's just go to the post office, shall we?"

"Yes, let's. If we're lucky we'll just happen across dear Henley and I'll get a chance to express my true feelings to him."

Dinah watched as a sudden frown crossed her husband's features. He looked at Sirius with narrowed eyes before speaking. "I highly doubt he will be anywhere in the vicinity, and either way at this point I think it's best to let sleeping dogs lie, if you'll excuse the expression."

Sirius shrugged, "Someone needs to tell him he can't treat his daughter like…well, the way he's treated her. Of course, I probably wouldn't know him if I passed him on the street anyway. If you hadn't noticed Lucy takes after her mother."

"The Weasley connection," Severus rolled his eyes as they all walked out of the house and began heading down the street towards the post office. "There is a fairly high probability that every single wizard or witch you meet with ginger hair is connected to that family in some way."

Dinah smiled, "Minus Lily Evans, of course."

"Er, there is that," Severus agreed awkwardly.

Dinah grinned at Sirius's slightly concerned look. "Don't worry. That topic isn't off limits anymore."

Sirius sighed, "I think they would have liked Lu. James and Lily, that is. It's good that people remember them. They weren't the saints some make them out to be, but they were good people."

"As a general rule, no one who is worshipped as highly as they were is actually as perfect as history would have us believe," Severus said; "But yes. Even Potter, I suppose, may have had good points later in life."

"You know," Dinah said with a laugh, "we could stretch it. Lily has a connection to the Weasleys because her son will probably end up marrying Ginny." She turned to Sirius just as they approached the post office, "How is Harry, by the way? He always found Severus and me so ridiculously amusing last year. I guess we'll probably see him at the wedding."

Severus sighed; "Looking _so _forward to that..."

Sirius ignored him, "He's doing well. Still working as an Auror. Things are finally starting to slow down for them, though. It's kind of funny. When he visits, he and Lucy will generally go off together and discuss technique. It generally dissolves into a friendly debate about who's better. Harry says as Voldemort tried to kill him twice and didn't succeed he's clearly the better. Lucy argues that not dying is not a proper measure of skill."

Dinah laughed, handing the letter off to a large black owl, who took to the sky with it. "It probably depends on the circumstances involved in the whole 'not dying' thing. But it's interesting to know that Lucy still has an interest in the Auror profession. You don't think she wants to change careers, do you?"

"I doubt it. She likes her kids too much. She's told me a number of times how she likes having regular hours and breaks. When she was an Auror her hours were really irregular. That's only to be expected I guess, but she does enjoy talking about it. I think she enjoyed the job more than she realizes. It's doubtful she'd consider going back to it now, though."

She nodded, and they began heading back towards the house. "It's always nice to have a purely academic interest in something, not for a career or anything."

"Oh, she has an academic interest in just about everything. She absolutely loves those Muggle books you let her borrow. And to answer your question, yes Harry will be at the wedding. He's sharing best man duties with Remus." He stopped to pick two daisies growing alongside the path they'd been walking down, presenting one to Dinah, "One for you."

She smiled and flushed a little, surprised at the random move. "Well, thank you. That's very nice," she stuck it in her robe pocket.

"I'd offer Severus one but I don't think that'd go over well."

Dinah laughed as they approached the house, pulling the daisy out of her pocket. "Aw, here. We'll put it in his hair."

"We most certainly will not!" Severus protested, shoving her hand away from his head for the second time this visit.

"Oh, but I think it will look nice. See?" Sirius said putting the flower he still held in his hair, "It looks quite dashing and very masculine."

Dinah couldn't help but burst into giggles, and even Severus had to snicker. Sirius didn't look particularly bothered by this reaction, though. He opened the front door and the three of them entered the house.

They tried to quiet themselves so they didn't wake Lucy. Passing the stairs, Sirius stopped to glare at them. "I should write him an unfriendly letter or go find him. I know his name and the town he lives in. It shouldn't be that hard."

"I understand that you are angry at the man and you have every right to be," Severus began in a reasonable tone, but that narrowed look in his eyes had come back. Dinah thought maybe it had something to do with whatever he and Lucy had discussed while he had been up with her doing the supposed 'Legilimency'. "And you are correct that he has had no cause to treat Lucy the way he has. But you should probably think about the potential consequences of your actions before you do something... reckless."

His eyes narrowed as he turned to look at Severus, "What do you mean?" Moving to face Dinah he repeated the question, "What does he mean?"

Dinah had a hard time keeping a straight face while Sirius still had the daisy in his hair, but she managed given the tone of his voice. She shook her head; "I don't know." She turned to her husband; "Severus? What do you mean?"

"Lucy has expressed concern," Severus explained; "And this may or may not be unfounded, I don't know. But she doesn't want you to go too far – she's still afraid of losing you." He fixed Sirius with a pointed stare, seeming to be waiting for his meaning to register in the other man's mind.

Sirius closed his eyes and sighed, "Oh. Just because I want to hunt him down and…share my feelings with him doesn't mean I will. Apparently Lucy knows me well enough to know I'd want to do that but not well enough to realize I wouldn't actually do anything to get myself in trouble, and by trouble I mean arrested."

Dinah frowned. "I guess she still has some insecurities she can't let go."

"They're better," he tried to reassure Dinah, "Not gone, but better. I can go visit Harry for a few days and she's fine by herself. It wasn't that long ago I couldn't leave her for too long."

"Well, I apologize for implying reckless behavior," Severus said in a grudging tone, "but Lucy asked me to make sure."

Dinah looked at her husband and laughed. "What are you, the new Dumbledore?"

"Somebody has to be," he said flatly, and then turned and walked off toward the kitchen.

Sirius chuckled, "I wasn't really offended, you know. I wasn't exactly known for responsible behavior. I guess we know why Lucy's got separation issues now."

"Yeah," she agreed, "Being torn from every source of support she had for seven months by someone who essentially abandoned her as a child can't be an emotionally healthy experience. But I'm glad your priorities are in the right order. Not that I didn't think they were," she tacked on as an afterthought.

He nodded, "Glad to see your general opinion of me has improved."

She flushed. "It has. I mean – well, it was always about Severus. Now that you two have sorted out your issues I'm not... well, you know. I like you. I never really hated you, I just got mad..." she trailed off.

He shrugged, "Understandable I guess, and it did all work out in the end," he gestured towards the kitchen where Severus had retreated, "You hungry? With all the commotion none of us have eaten yet…"

"Food sounds good," she smiled. "Then again, what else is new?"

Sirius laughed, "I kind of figured."

* * *

><p>The three of them were sitting around the kitchen table still, when Lucy's cat came in and started pawing at Severus's robes, which moved every time he did.<p>

"Well, Lucy must be up," Sirius said.

"Oh," Dinah smiled and turned toward the entranceway, looking for Lucy.

When Lucy finally made her entrance Sirius thought she looked pretty cute. Her hair was sticking out randomly from her braid and she rubbed her eyes with her fists, like he'd seen Teddy do on occasion. "Feeling better?" he asked.

She nodded, giving him a confused expression before saying, "_Why_ is there a daisy on your head?'

"Oh," he said, grabbing the flower, only mildly embarrassed. "I picked it for you," he told her, walking around behind her and putting the flower through her hair at the top of the braid.

Lucy smiled, "You're pretty stinking cute, you know that?"

"Mmm, and charming too. How do you think I got you to say yes to marrying me?"

"You seduced me and then asked when I was half asleep and we were naked."

Dinah laughed and almost spit out her second glass of orange juice. "How romantic."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, "The seduction or the naked?"

"Oh, all of it. Really, I'm sure it was lovely it was just such a random comment that it made me laugh."

"Orange juice! Can I have some?" she asked.

He smiled, "Sit. I'll go get you some. Are you hungry? Would you like me to get you some food too? We already ate but I can whip something up."

"No, no," she said, waving him off, "I ate the pudding. That's good for now. I don't want to challenge my stomach too much."

"Pudding," Dinah muttered, turning back to her own juice with a sigh, causing Severus to chuckle.

Lucy looked from one to the other, accepting the glass that Sirius handed her; "Was there something wrong with the pudding? You seemed to really like it last night."

"I did not!" Dinah flushed, "That wasn't even about - oh... um, no it was delicious. Never mind." She finished the rest of her juice in one gulp, and then stuck the glass in front of Sirius, asking for more.

Sirius silently poured her more juice before Lucy said, "You know if you drink too much of that you might end up with heartburn. The juice is pretty acidic and heartburn can be a side affect of pregnancy. I only know that because Tonks told me that was how she knew she was pregnant this time."

"Oh, well..." Dinah frowned, then shrugged, "I guess if that happens I'll just take an antacid," she said a strange word at the same time as Severus fixed her with a pointed stare and said 'potion'. She sighed. "Severus, I'll take whatever I want to take and whatever is most convenient at the time. They work the same anyway."

Lucy uncomfortable and tried to change the subject, "Did you get a chance to send the letter off?"

"Oh," Dinah seemed to force herself to turn away from the glare she and her husband had been sharing. "I did. Hopefully we hear back soon."

Lucy nodded, "I'm hoping if she's not busy, she'll just show up here. She knows we're here and that it's important we speak to her soon. The owl shouldn't take long to arrive either since she doesn't live terribly far away. Oh!" Lucy suddenly got very excited, "While we wait would you want to go back to Nerissa's and get measured for your bridesmaid's dress? You could get a look at the samples she made up, too!"

"Sure!" Dinah stood from the table. "And that at least will be a dress I can wear before I get too fat."

"That's another reason for moving the wedding up. There's no way I'll fit in my dress in December," she rose and turned back to the boys, "You guys don't mind us going to the dress shop again, do you?"

Sirius smiled and waved them out, "Go. Be girly."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"So," Lucy said, glancing at Dinah as they closed the front door, "how bad was I?"

"How bad?" Dinah looked confused.

"Not telling him. Breaking down," Lucy sighed, "I don't think he's realized yet that the Order knowing means his best friend has been lying to him."

"Oh," Dinah said quietly. "Yeah. I don't... really know about that second half. But I think you were fine. I don't know what you talked about with Severus, but I'm glad you were able to finally get it off your chest."

"He, uh, gave me a stern talking to. He's pretty good at that, you know. He should have no problem disciplining your kids."

Dinah smiled. "He'll be a good father. I know he worries a little about being like his own father, but that would never happen."

"Oh, I think he might bumble about a bit, but he'll do all right. At least he's got you and you had a _normal_ set of parents."

Dinah blushed a little. "Yeah, my parents are great. Now I feel guilty, though."

"Guilty?" Lucy frowned, "For what?"

"Well, when you said that. That I'm the only one of the four of us with normal parents and a happy childhood."

Lucy shrugged, "It's not your fault. I mean if Sirius or I were snotty, pure-blood elitists his parents would be perfect examples of how to raise children."

Dinah smiled, "Well, I'm glad you're not snotty, pure-blood elitists."

Stopping outside Nerissa's door, Lucy paused before opening it, "Listen, it's not that I mind people knowing, but I'd rather not have Aunt Molly find out before the wedding and the more people that know…"

"Oh, okay. Don't worry, I won't tell anybody." Dinah laughed. "Really, who would I tell? I only barely know Harry and the Weasleys and some of the others that would matter."

Lucy smiled, "I was thinking more along the lines of letting it slip to Nerissa. And of course I won't say anything about you if you don't want a lot of people to know yet."

"Oh, I get it," Dinah feigned hitting herself in the head. "Right. Well, at least as far as Nerissa is concerned let's not mention it because it might come up that you're pregnant too, somehow. Otherwise, I don't mind who knows at all now that Severus does. Though it probably doesn't need to be all over the school until I start to show."

Lucy nodded, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I mean no one else needs to know until we tell the family and that's not going to be until after the wedding…I don't know how I'm going to deal telling the students. It'll be weird telling them I think, but then not addressing it at some point will be just as weird."

"Yes, I think we could just figure out a way to announce it around the same time we start to show. And that gives us a few months to do said figuring out."

Lucy nodded and shoved the door open, "Nerissa?" she called.

Nerissa came out from the back and looked shocked to see the two women there for the second time in two days. "Lucy? Dinah?"

"I know, back again already. Sirius informed me he got two more groomsmen, so I've got another bridesmaid for you to measure."

The dressmaker laughed, "No problem. I've got plenty of time. What color do you want her in?"

"I was thinking the burgundy and gold might work better on her than the deep blue and bronze."

"That sounds nice," Dinah nodded, and then turned to Lucy. "You're not having all your bridesmaids in the same color, though?"

Lucy shook her head, "Nope. There's a subtle theme going on with those colors."

Dinah paused and then it seemed to hit her. "Oh! Gryffindor and Ravenclaw!"

"Yep. I'm sort of hoping to pull the two together with some purple and white flowers. Maybe some light orange too, depends on what's out. Oh, Nerissa, that reminds me. We're moving the wedding up so….you've got less time than you thought."

"Moving it up? What for?"

Lucy bit her lip and looked at Dinah. Great, that probably wasn't the wisest thing to say. What could possibly be a good excuse for moving up the wedding besides being pregnant? "Oh, um, we decided we didn't want to wait so long. Besides this way he can move into my rooms at Hogwarts sooner."

"All right then, I suppose. Come on, Dinah, I'll get you fitted," Nerissa said, leading them to the back of the room.

Lucy followed them back. "Do you mind if I put my dress on again or do you have it all tore apart?"

"Go ahead," Nerissa said, smiling, "I know how brides can be."

Dinah laughed; "It's too bad we can only wear the dresses once, isn't it?"

"I know! Though I suppose you could always wear yours at the Yule Ball," Lucy said, winking.

"Perhaps," Dinah agreed, grinning, as Nerissa brought the burgundy and gold dress over to her. "The colors are rather Christmassy, actually."

"Yes, they kind of are," Lucy disappeared for a few minutes returning wearing the dress she'd tried on the day before.

Nerissa's eyes narrowed as she looked her up and down, "I could swear that top fit you better yesterday."

Lucy looked down at her chest, "It feels the same. I doubt my chest is noticeably expanding in size just to vex you. Really, I don't feel a difference."

"I hope not," Dinah said, glancing down at her own breasts for a split second before disappearing into a changing room.

"What's with her?" Nerissa asked.

Lucy just shrugged and smoothed the dress over her midsection. "Don't worry about taking the waist in. It's not that loose now and I want to be able to eat at my own wedding without feeling like I'm going to bust a seam."

Dinah emerged from the dressing room, "How do I look?"

Nerissa looked her up and down, "Like the waist needs to be taken in. The bust too, if I'm not mistaken."

"Er... yeah..." Dinah made a face, probably not sure how she was supposed to take those comments. She sighed, "Well, you're the expert. But I don't think you should take the waist in too much..."

Nerissa sighed, "You want the freedom to eat a lot too? You girls do know a wedding is not about the food, don't you?"

Lucy laughed, "Don't tell that to me. Dinah's the one who ate nearly a whole pizza by herself last night."

"All events are really about the food," Dinah said, flushing slightly and walking up to let Nerissa take her necessary measurements, not commenting on the pizza thing.

"As the bride I'd like to think the wedding was about me, but I'm willing to let food be second," Lucy said.

Dinah laughed; "You know when I said all events I was implying my own wedding, too. So you know I'm not completely serious about the food thing."

"I think," Lucy said, "Severus would have some comment to make about your wedding being all about the cake."

"It's okay," she smiled, "I love it when Severus makes comments to me about food. Oh, look!" she pointed to the window where a large black owl sat.

"Oh! Maybe it's from Minerva," Lucy went to open the window, carefully taking the note from the owl. She broke the seal and began reading, "She says it better not be bad news as she's got enough worries already, being the new headmistress and all. She'll be at the house in an hour," Lucy looked at the clock, "We should be going soon then. After last night I think we should make the boys lunch and if Minerva's coming we'll want enough for her too, just in case." Lucy sighed, "I'm not sure I want to take this off yet."

"We can come back," Dinah said, "After all, I still have to try this dress on at least once more." When Nerissa finished her measurements Dinah went back into the dressing room to change.

Lucy reluctantly did the same. When the pair of them emerged in their regular clothes Lucy turned to Dinah, "Well, do you want to pick something up at the Three Broomsticks or make something at the house?"

"Whatever's more convenient. I'm happy to help make something."

"We can go home. I'm not sure I'm up to going to see Rosmerta."

"Ah, true," Dinah agreed, looking embarrassed. "Let's get going then. We want to get in before Sirius has a chance to call her 'Minnie' and scare her away."

Lucy laughed, "Yeah, we'd better be going. Thanks, Nerissa. We'll see you later, I'm sure." Nerissa waved to them and they walked back to the house together.

* * *

><p>"That was quick," Severus looked up from his book when they walked back into the house. He and Sirius were once again sitting in the living room doing separate activities in a non-hostile silence.<p>

Dinah smiled. "'Minnie' is coming," she said, looking from Severus to Sirius.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. Dinah wondered if he'd picked up that habit from Severus. "Really? That was prompt," he turned to Lucy, "Did you tell Nerissa?"

"No! I know it probably sounds weird but I'd rather Aunt Molly not find out until after the wedding. She and Mum were pretty big on the no sex before marriage thing…" She walked up to her fiancée and put her hands on his shoulders, "Dinah's wearing the red and gold."

Severus snorted; "Lovely color combination."

Lucy looked over at Severus, "There will be blue and bronze dresses too. Happily for you, I'm not requiring you to wear either."

Dinah laughed; "Come now, red and gold can't be _that _bad if _I'm _the one wearing it." She sat on her husband's lap and looped her arms around his neck; "Can it?"

"That remains to be seen," he mumbled, looking past her to Lucy. "Did she say when she's coming?"

"Who, Minnie?" Lucy grinned.

Severus sighed. "Minerva McGonagall, and yes, her."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "In about an hour. However, Dinah and I thought we'd be extra nice and make us all lunch after that horrible Puddifoot's episode we put you through yesterday."

"I see," he smiled slightly. "Well, I suppose that's nice."

Sirius chuckled, "How long will this last, do you think?"

"Just until the hormones kick in again," Dinah teased, standing up. "Any special requests?"

"How about some spa—" Sirius began, with a suspicious twinkle in his eye.

"No!" Lucy shouted, flushing and covering his mouth, "We are not having spaghetti. Maybe a nice pasta salad, but _no_ spaghetti."

Dinah exchanged a look with her husband and sighed. "Where do they get this stuff?"  
>"I'm not even asking," Severus muttered, and then paused and grinned. "Pudding." With that seemingly arbitrary comment he stuck his face back into the book again.<p>

"Pasta salad it is, let's go before I change my mind!" Dinah grabbed Lucy's arm and dragged her friend out of the sitting room towards the kitchen, hoping Lucy didn't notice how red her face had gotten.

"So, what's with you and pudding?" Lucy asked as she filled a pot with water and set it to boil.

"Nothing!" Dinah exclaimed. "It's just these accursed hormones, that's all; and Severus is so amused he's milking it for all it's worth..."

"Does this have something to do with the screaming last night?" Lucy asked, a knowing smile spreading across her face.

"No!" she shrieked, "Well, yes but...oh, you both have the wrong idea! I wasn't screaming about _that!_ Severus made a joke and it appalled me, that's all, because it's something I never imagined him saying. I ended up screaming and then I realized you guys would think I was screaming because of _that_ but I wasn't and anyway, I never scream because of _that_. Well, that's not to say I _couldn't_ scream because of _that_ if that happened to be the manner in which I choose to respond to – oh no, what am I saying!" she collapsed into a chair and buried her face in her hands, hoping to never have to look at another human being again as long as she lived. She was getting as free with information as Lucy normally was.

Lucy laughed, "It's okay to scream because of _that_ you know. We do try to keep it down when we have guests over. We aren't always successful, though."

"Your bed squeaks," Dinah muttered, tracing the wood-grain of the table. "And I didn't say there was anything wrong with screaming because of that I just said that it's not what I do."

Lucy pulled out a chair next to her and put her hand on top of Dinah's, "Whatever you want to do in the bedroom is up to you. I just meant there's nothing to be embarrassed about here," she grinned, "I told you what we did with a fudge pop for goodness sakes. And I like my squeaky bed."

Dinah laughed; "I know, it's just weird. I mean we're guests here so I didn't want to seem rude. But if you really want to know I prefer to 'whisper loudly'." She flushed. "Or at least that's what I'd call it."

Lucy smiled and went to the refrigerator, pulling out some vegetables to chop up, "See? Now that wasn't so bad, was it? I used to be more embarrassed about it too, in case you were wondering. But between Tonks and Sirius…you just sort of get used to it. And I hardly think it's rude to want to make love with your husband," she paused and mumbled, "The spaghetti got me pregnant."

Dinah smiled. "Nice. See, you can get a little embarrassed too. Although I think maybe I'm a little less free with my information because I'm close to a generation older than you. I grew up with a slightly different view."

"Mmm. Probably. I _am_ still trying to be less free with that type of information. I just figured you were curious about his spaghetti comment. Here," she said, holding out a tomato, "want to cut it up?"

"Sure," Dinah stood and took the tomato from her friend, heading over to the cutting board. "You know, I am _so _curious to see the look on Minerva's face when she finds out."

Lucy laughed, "Yeah, especially if Sirius takes the opportunity to call her Minnie. I don't think she expected either one of us to get pregnant, let alone at the same time."

"Yep, you're not married yet and I'm old. Plus I don't think most people are capable of imagining Severus with children."

"I'll be honest I have a hard time picturing either one of those boys with children," she grabbed some dressing and cheese and leaned against the counter, "Sirius being such a child himself and all. I mean he's good with Harry, but they're more friends than parent-child."

"Mm," Dinah agreed. "Well, this will be an adventure for both of us, then. But a good one, I think."

"I hope so," Lucy grinned, dropping the cheese when someone knocked on the door.

"Oh, she's early!" Dinah exclaimed, not quite sure she was ready for this conversation. "Somebody'd better get to the door before Sirius intercepts her and calls her Minnie."

"I'm on it!" Lucy said, leaving the cheese on the floor and running to the front door. She opened it wide, an obviously fake smile plastered on her face, "Minerva! Hi! We're so glad you could come on such short notice. Please come in."

Dinah took a few moments to catch her breath. It had not been easy to follow Lucy into the sitting room as fast as her friend had been going. She shot Minerva what she hoped was a more sincere smile only to realize that the older woman was staring at both of them as though they were mad. "Good afternoon," she said.

"Good... afternoon..." Minerva said, watching them warily. She stepped into the room and looked around. "Sirius. Severus."

Severus nodded once and then turned back to his book, while Sirius sported a large grin and said, "Hello, Min-"

"Don't you dare!" Lucy spun on him, wand at the ready.

Severus glared at his one-time rival, "Lovely. You've ruined their good mood. That lasted long."

"Er, please have a seat," Dinah tried to keep as much tension out of the room as possible. "We were making pasta salad, would you like to join us for lunch?"

"That would be wonderful, thank you," Minerva said, sitting in an armchair and looking around the house. "You have a very nice home here."

Lucy grinned, looking extremely proud of her home, "Thank you," she went to sit on the arm of Sirius's chair, leaning down to whisper in his ear.

"I guess we'll go finish up the pasta salad. Coming Severus? We can let the girls talk about their, uh, news," Sirius said.

"If I must," Severus put down his book and stood from the couch, following Sirius into the kitchen.

Minerva watched the men leave, a small smile forming on her face. "I never thought I'd see the day those two could associate with each other in a peaceful manner."

Lucy laughed, "You should have been at Madam Puddifoot's yesterday."

The older woman chuckled, "Somehow I can't see you couples going to Madam Puddifoot's together, even during the summer."

"Oh, we didn't go," Dinah grinned and sat in the couch space Severus had just vacated. "Severus and Sirius went by themselves."

"The two men? To Madam Puddifoot's?" Minerva stared at them.

"Yes," Lucy said, remaining perched on the arm, "Dinah is now determined to bring Severus there for Valentine's this coming year. I'd offer to make it a double date, but I just look dreadful in there and I'm probably already going to look ridiculous enough come the middle of February…Actually, Dinah, Severus might get out of having to go there depending…"

Dinah flushed a little bit. "Well, I didn't specifically say Valentine's, but you're right either way. It will be awkward if we go there when we're...yeah. Whiiiich brings us to our discussion point..." she looked at Minerva, intending to go on, but trailed off out of nervousness and then looked at Lucy, hoping her friend would pick up the next few lines. Between the two of them, perhaps eventually they would get to the point.

"Right. Um, well, you see, the thing is…we, that is Dinah and I, we've sort of found ourselves in a bit of a pickle. We're going to need some time off around February or March. You can blame the boys! It's totally their fault, but, um, I need to move up the wedding."

"Yes!" Dinah exclaimed, and Minerva was forced to look back and forth between her and Lucy, following this broken explanation. "We're moving it up because it's the right thing to do, of course. Given the students' and other family members' potential reactions to our...um...pickle. Or well I shouldn't say we it's not my wedding I'm just going to be a bridesmaid and I also would like it moved up so I can wear my dress. We both really want to be able to wear our dresses. And look normal."

Dinah didn't think she'd ever seen the Headmistress look so confused, "I see no reason that should be a problem, but I don't think either of you will look…abnormal."

"Oh, we will," Lucy assured her, "And I'd rather Aunt Molly not find out about that until after the wedding. She might be more understanding than I think she will, but I'd rather not have her kill the groom before the marriage."

"For what it's worth mine happened after the marriage," Dinah felt she had to stick in. She didn't know what kinds of things Minerva generally approved of. "And it's not abnormal, really. It's totally normal. Very...er, natural, if you catch what we're driving at."

Minerva frowned, "I have a thought, but it's a bit far-fetched to be true."

Dinah sighed. "Try us."

"I'd rather not. Especially if I'm wrong." She turned to Lucy. "I believe it's your turn now."

"It seems…we, Dinah and I, are procreating," Lucy said, biting her lower lip.

Minerva just stared at each of them in turn.

"Well, I mean we're not procreating right _now_," Dinah said, her face turning a bit pink. "I mean, the action of it. Not this very minute. Um, Lucy I think you could have chosen a better word."

"Oh, right," she said, turning the same color as Dinah, "That is, I meant to say…we're pregnant."

"Really," Minerva pursed her lips. "_Both_ of you?"

"Both of us," Dinah nodded.

The headmistress sighed and leaned back in the chair. "I suppose it wasn't so far-fetched after all, then. Which is not what I had hoped."

"I didn't _plan_ this. Blame Sirius! He's the one who miscalculated and…and wanted spaghetti. Then he had the nerve to yell at me for eating so much! Dinah gets teased about her eating habits! I eat a few extra apples and I get yelled at!"

The tension was broken as both Minerva and Dinah took this opportunity to stare at Lucy, whose outburst had been entirely unexpected. Dinah let herself smile a bit and shook her head, Lucy's words for some reason making her more comfortable with the situation rather than less. "Hormones, Lucy, hormones," she chided, and then turned to Minerva, who was still staring at Lucy as though she wanted to say something but couldn't think of what. "I know it's inconvenient for both of us to be pregnant at the same time. That's why we wanted to meet with you right away, because I'm sure there are plenty of details that will need to be worked out with classes and the like."

"Yes," Minerva finally turned to look at Dinah. "I confess this is not something one wants to be hit with during their first year as Headmistress. But I apologize for not congratulating you both," she smiled a bit and nodded at Dinah. "Congratulations, Dinah." She turned to Lucy and her smile looked a little more forced, but she managed to nod and say; "Congratulations, Lucy. And to your husbands – or, well to Sirius and Severus too, of course."

"I didn't plan this," Lucy whispered, clearly uncomfortable with Minerva's reaction. "I'm sorry." Dinah wasn't sure if it was her overly emotional side or the hormones that appeared to be making Lucy's eyes look decidedly teary.

"It's okay, no one's blaming you," Dinah said gently, trying to diffuse this before it got too crazy and freaked out Minerva even more.

Minerva looked like she felt bad, and smiled at Lucy. "I'm sorry; I wasn't implying that you should feel guilty. This is a good development and the two of you _are _getting married. Times are different now, I understand. I am simply trying to determine what can be done about the teaching factor. We have Grubbly-Plank as occasional substitute material, but she is only one woman..."

Lucy seemed to perk up a bit at that. "Well, I thought about that. I was thinking either Hermione or Ginny might be interested in taking over my class. They both did well and they're already familiar with my teaching style so that wouldn't be an issue. I think Ginny might be a bit more relaxed about the class, myself."

"And I think we're both intending to stay in Hogwarts," Dinah added. "Although we can't teach we would be available to help the substitutes with lesson plans and ideas. Especially for me, because I can't think of a person who might be able to do my class... although I suppose Hermione might be able to handle it. She _does _have experience with the Muggle world. But I don't know..."

Minerva chuckled, "Miss Granger does have a…certain intensity. Though with guidance I think she could do well substituting. You might not want to let her grade the students' work, though. And I think Miss Weasley would do well. Assuming she's not busy with her new Quidditch team."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Is the news out now?" a somewhat timid voice asked from the doorway.

Dinah and Lucy looked over to see Sirius standing in the doorway holding a large bowl of pasta salad and a pitcher of pumpkin juice. He looked surprisingly nervous about the whole thing.

Severus, stuck behind him, looked more agitated. "Would you move? I'm not standing here holding plates for an hour," he grumbled, trying to shove Sirius forward into the room.

"Watch it! You're going to make me drop the food and then we'll_ really_ be in trouble."

"You can come in," Dinah said, looking at Lucy. "Right?"

"Yes, come in. Though we should warn you Minerva is not pleased with either one of you. This is her first year as Headmistress and you've made it rather difficult."

Sirius came into the room and placed the bowl and pitcher on the coffee table, then went and sat back down in his original chair, pulling Lucy off the arm and into his lap. Severus placed the silverware and plates on the table and came over to sit next to Dinah. He shot Sirius his traditional smirk and raised eyebrow; "Perhaps next time she would like us to consult with each other before we decide to make Dinah and Lucy pregnant."

Sirius laughed, "Perhaps. Maybe you could take the odd months and I could have the evens." He pulled Lucy close and kissed her cheek, "Though that might not work out so well. February does have fewer days in it."

Severus had to chuckle a little, placing an impromptu hand over Dinah's. "I think maybe we could just alternate use of the spell rather than the activity itself. Because I don't intend to take February either."

Dinah couldn't help but giggle at her husband's statement. Turning to Minerva, however, she noticed that the other woman was decidedly less amused.

"Please don't misunderstand," she said, frowning. "I am sure we can find a way to work with this. I assume that, since you are both due in the beginning of the year, you intend to resume teaching the _next _year?"

"I think so," Dinah said.

"Yes, but the scheduling of our classes will have to be worked around," Severus said. "Dinah and myself both being teachers, we can't have overlapping courses that year."

"That might be difficult to arrange," Minerva admitted. "We are tight on teachers and time as it is, especially now that my Headmistress duties conflict with Transfiguration. I intend to locate a new teacher for the course within the next couple of years if possible," she said with a pointed look at the couple in the chair. Dinah remembered the words that had been exchanged at the last faculty meeting of the year.

"I hope you find someone suitable," Sirius said.

Dinah thought he was being pretty cavalier about it, and Severus's smirk showed that he seemed to be thinking the same. After all, Minerva had offered the position to Sirius, but it seemed he did not want it in any way, just as Lucy had suggested.

"Caring for the babies is something we could discuss among ourselves, I think," Lucy said, steering them back to the original topic, "I mean, my classes can remain whenever and we can always help with the baby if it works out for the four of us. That might help ease things," she looked to Dinah. It seemed like she was asking her opinion.

Dinah nodded. "Thank you. I didn't even think of that. Among all of us I'm sure it will be easier to arrange things. I'm happy to watch your baby too, of course."

Lucy laughed, "Are you sure? I mean it might take after its father."

Minerva chuckled, "I think there are many who would like to witness Severus caring for Sirius's child…and vice versa. I imagine the four of you are in for quite the adventure, especially if the babies take after their fathers too much."

"I know, right," Dinah laughed. "Sometimes I think there might not be a stranger group of friends and semi-friends than the four of us. Soon to be six."

Lucy grinned, "That's what we get for forcing them to be grown-ups," she grabbed a plate and silverware, "Please help yourselves. I'm going to be a bad hostess and get some now since I'm starving."

"Hm," Dinah looked at the food and shrugged. "I'm not really feeling hungry right now." She flushed as all eyes in the room, even Minerva's, landed on her. "What?"

"What did you do to her?" Sirius asked her husband.

"I didn't _do _anything to her!" Severus retorted, and then turned to glare at Dinah. "Why won't you eat?"

"I didn't say I _won't _eat," she said, taking a spoonful of pasta salad and a half cup of juice. "I'll just have a little bit – what are you doing?" Severus had stuck his hand on her forehead.

"You don't _feel _warm..." he frowned.

"Oh, stop! Even I can lose my appetite _sometimes_. I'm pregnant for goodness sakes, if you're going to react this strongly to one unexpected behavior how are you going to survive seven more months of it?"

"He'll probably start slipping random potions in your drinks," Sirius said.

Meanwhile, Lucy took about two bites of her food before dropping her fork, muttering, "Not again," and rushing for the bathroom.

Dinah shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Oh, I _really _hope that doesn't happen to me."

"Well," Minerva said, smiling, "I suppose that would be all the evidence I need that this is indeed true. Now we must simply figure out how it should be handled. Dinah, how much time do you and Lucy think you will need to find potential substitutes?"

"Um... well, I would hope to be able to make a decision fairly early in the year. By November, I would hope, just so whoever we choose is given time to prepare. Perhaps it will work out that Lucy can take Ginny and I can take Hermione but we'll still want to look-"

"Granger?" Severus demanded, looking rather stricken by her choice.

"Be quiet and eat my pasta salad, I don't want it anymore," she shoved her plate into her husband's hands and turned back to Minerva. "We'll still need to consider other alternatives."

"Sorry," a decidedly ill-looking Lucy said, coming back into the room and reclaiming her seat on Sirius's lap.

"Feel better?" Sirius asked, looking concerned.

She sighed, "This better be one good kid." Turning towards Severus she asked; "I don't suppose there's anything you can do about the vomiting thing? I've eaten less this entire day than Dinah ate for breakfast and I've thrown most of it up."

"There are things which can be done," Severus muttered, moving the pasta on his plate around with his fork and still giving Dinah a suspicious look out of the corner of his eye. "To help, not cure. But I would need to access my stores."

"They're all still at Hogwarts, Severus. You can access them at any time. So," Minerva turned back to Dinah, "You were saying something about wanting to look around for substitutes, I believe?"

"Well, yes. That we'll need time to look but hopefully not too much time. Unless you have anyone you would like to suggest. Give me that pasta salad, I'm hungry!" the food suddenly looked appetizing and she snatched the fork and plate back from Severus just as he was about to take a bite.

Severus's hands hung in mid-air for a minute while he processed the move, and then he growled and gritted his teeth as Dinah dug into the tasty salad. "Seven... more... months..."

Lucy groaned and hid her face in Sirius's neck, "I can't watch."

"I can't believe you're surprised by this," Sirius said, stroking Lucy's hair, "after her behavior with the pizza last night."

"Don't mention pizza, please," Lucy mumbled.

Dinah sighed and put the plate down, the pasta salad not turning out to be as glorious as she'd just thought. "Sorry. I guess maybe I'm really not hungry after all. Here," she handed it back to Severus. "Finish it for me?"

"If you take this back again I swear I am going to..." he trailed off, rolled his eyes, and took a bite of the pasta.

Dinah looked at Minerva, feeling a little embarrassed. "Sorry about all that. Um... so do you have any suggestions?"

"I suggest you make yourself a second plate next time you want the pasta. Otherwise Severus might refuse to give you the proper potion should you end up in Lucy's position," she smiled slightly, showing that she was teasing. "And I think your selections of Miss Weasley and Miss Granger are rather good ones. Of course, I can put out word that we are looking for two substitutes and see who else applies if you wish."

"Granger..." Severus growled at his food.

Dinah ignored him. "What do you think, Lucy? Should we ask Ginny and Hermione first and then wait to have Minerva put out word for other applicants if they say no? Or should we just put out word now?"

Lucy lifted her head to look at Dinah, "I think maybe we should ask them and if they don't respond by a certain date, or say no, then put out word. Maybe give them until the middle of August or so."

Sirius stared at the Dinah and Severus, "Okay, you two have to move in. I'm not dealing with a pregnant bride who is trying to find a replacement for herself before both the wedding and the school year. By the way, are you going to tell me when you've moved the wedding to?"

"You really want this person to move in with you?" Severus pointed his fork at Dinah.

"I figure one of two things will happen. They'll distract each other or egg each other on. Of course the latter might outweigh the former…"

"The first weekend in September," Lucy cut in. "That's when I was hoping we could have the wedding. I know things will be kind of hectic with talk of the students from the other schools coming in around that time but I can't figure it being any less hectic than it would have been with the Yule Ball and the wedding."

"Oh, that's right," Dinah said. "If you want to have it at Hogwarts then we have to make sure the date is okay with Minerva."

"I believe that should be all right," Minerva said. "Perhaps even better than having it around the same time as the Yule Ball. But I expect your full cooperation and responsibility for planning the event."

"Of course," Lucy said, "Most of it was already planned, it'll just be a matter of moving everything up. Invitations will have to go out fairly soon, flowers might have to be changed, and we already talked about using the Great Hall for the reception and allowing the students to attend," her forehead wrinkled in thought, "We might not have enough food to satisfy Dinah, though."

"Hmph," Dinah made sure to look offended and turned her nose away from Lucy.

Sirius chose that moment to look at Minerva seriously, "I hope this doesn't make you look at Lucy differently. We didn't plan on having kids until after the wedding. I mean we've been living together for over a year now so I don't think anyone should be surprised by the fact we don't have separate bedrooms. It just…happened."

"You're certainly not the first couple it's happened to and I doubt you'll be the last. I have never considered Lucy to act in a way that was disrespectful of the school or its image. I'll admit I was shocked and like many of my generation think that a couple should be married first, but as I told Lucy earlier the two of you are indeed getting married so all is well."

Sirius nodded, "Right," he picked up the bowl of pasta, "Does anyone want anymore? The girls seem not to be hungry now and Lu keeps looking at the bowl as if it's going to attack her."

"But…but I'm hungry," Lucy said, looking pathetic.

"Fine," Sirius sighed and scooped her out a small bit, handing her the plate, "Try that."

"I told you," Lucy said, stuffing the pasta in her mouth, "this is Dinah's baby."

"Who is going to have Dinah's _real _baby if she won't eat?" Severus said, finishing the last of his own plate.

His and Lucy's words seemed to light a new hungry fire in Dinah's stomach and she reached for the pasta bowl only to find it empty. "Oh, no!" She turned and looked at Severus's plate again, and he met her gaze with a look that said he knew what was about to happen and was _not _happy about it. Still, Dinah couldn't stop her mouth from whining; "You ate all my pasta!"

"You _told _me to eat all your pasta!" he exclaimed, exasperated.

She sighed and grabbed a glass, filling it to the brim with pumpkin juice and downing it in one gulp before slamming it back onto the coffee table. "Fine. See if I care if I starve!"

"That's not alcohol, you know," Severus muttered. "But if you would like to satisfy your hunger with another 'shot' of pumpkin juice, allow me," he refilled the glass and shoved it into her hands.

Dinah glared at him.

Sirius laughed, "Relax, Dinah. There's more in the kitchen. I couldn't find the big bowl so we had to leave half of this in the pot."

Lucy stared at Sirius, standing so that he could refill the pasta bowl, "The big bowl is in the cupboard, next to the stove behind the griddle. Right where it's always been."

"It makes no difference now. Sit and eat your pasta and try to fully digest it this time. I'll be right back with more."

"Sorry," Dinah took this moment to apologize to Minerva. "Ever since yesterday my pregnancy hormones seem to be more unpredictable than Lucy's."

"I need a dictionary so that I can re-define the word understatement," Severus said to Lucy.

Lucy giggled, "At least my main pregnancy issue so far can be handled by the efforts of a skilled Potions Master. Dinah, on the other hand, might need some sort of sedative…which I guess could also be handled by said Potions Master."

"Well," Severus began.

"Don't you dare even think about finishing that sentence," Dinah growled, standing when Sirius came in and taking the entire bowl from him. She spooned a bunch of pasta salad onto a plate and started eating it. After three bites she had to put it down again, though, and simply finished her pumpkin juice.

Minerva watched the entire exchange with a bit of amusement combined with trepidation, "And the students are going to have to deal with the bulk of this? It's only going to get worse I imagine."

"And that is what potions are for," Severus stood and turned to Lucy. "When would you like me to prepare something for you? Now? If so, I need to go to Hogwarts for a bit."

"Um, you don't have to if you don't want to," Lucy said, settling herself back down on Sirius's lap, "But I'd really appreciate it if you could have something ready by tomorrow. I understand if you can't, but if you could you'd earn yourself another hug," she said, smiling at him.

Dinah's new best friends, the hormones, chose this moment to turn sappy. "That's so sweet, Lucy," she hugged Severus, "Severus, did I ever tell you that you're the nicest person in the entire universe and that I love you?"

"Did I ever tell you that you are insane?" he asked, but kissed the top of her head.

She laughed and pulled back to smile at him; "Often."

"Aww, that's so cute," Lucy said, sounding as sappy as Dinah felt.

"Don't you start," Sirius warned her.

Minerva continued to stare at the two couples, "Did these…emotions cause the Madam Puddifoot's incident you girls were telling me about?"

"Oh, not quite," Dinah smiled. "That was more a direct result of placing Severus into a room with a lot of pink."

"And Sirius's flirting," Lucy added.

"Go. Go now, while you still have the chance," Sirius urged Dinah's husband.

"I don't need to be told twice," Severus agreed, frowning and standing from the couch. Dinah stood with him and he turned to nod at Minerva. "Minerva. Thank you. I hope this doesn't cause too much trouble for you."

"I'm sure it will all work out, Severus. I did expect this to happen eventually. Though not to both of you at the same time."

"Oh, good," Dinah grinned. "You thought it would happen to me. I guess that means I'm not so old after all."

Sirius snorted, "Speak for yourself. Do you realize how old I will be by the time this kid leaves Hogwarts?"

Lucy rolled her eyes at him, "It's not that bad. Really, ask Remus."

"Well," Minerva said, standing, "I should be going. I've got a lot to do before the school year starts again. Congratulations and enjoy the rest of your break."

Lucy smiled, "Thanks for being so understanding. Try not to work too hard."

"See you later, Minnie," Sirius threw in.

Minerva sighed, shot Sirius a glare, and then smiled at Lucy. "Thank you. Good day. I will see you all when school restarts." They all bid her a final farewell as Lucy walked her to the door and saw her off. When Dinah's friend closed the door behind the Headmistress she turned to give her fiancé a scolding look. "You simply had to get that in there before she left, didn't you?" She turned to Dinah and Severus. "It seems she's gotten used to his horrible behavior, though."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Clearly, given her ludicrous staff meeting suggestion," Severus rolled his eyes, and then turned to Dinah. "I should go as well. This is your last chance to tell me if there is any kind of potion you need."

"Well..." she thought about it. "I suppose you might get some extra of what you're making for Lucy. Just in case her problems _do _end up hitting me at some point."

"Yes, and how about something for your appetite issue? Because I confess I don't think I'm going to be able to handle seven months of that if it keeps happening."

She raised an eyebrow. "You have stuff for that? I just happen to be hungry sometimes and not hungry other times, I don't think that's something that can be easily fixed."

"Hungry one _second _and not hungry the next _second_," he retorted. "That is a bit more extreme, and I may have something that could help."

Dinah shrugged, "Do what you will, I suppose. We'll see if it's needed. But please tell me if you're going to give me anything weird."

He sighed, "You just need to eat. For the baby. As normal. It bothers me when you have no appetite."

"Oh, Severus," she leaned forward and gave him a hug. "I understand. Of course. Now go ahead and get that stuff."

Her husband nodded, kissed her cheek, and then apparated away. She smiled and sat down on the chair Minerva had just vacated. "I guess I'm getting some potions, too."

Sirius laughed, "I think that's three hugs in one day. I'm surprised his head didn't explode."

Dinah laughed, "Hey, I'm his wife. I don't count."

"I will hug him every day if it means he supplies me with what I need," Lucy told her soon-to-be husband.

"I'm beginning to feel decidedly unloved," Sirius pouted, "Severus doesn't love me like I thought, my fiancée won't hug me…"

"Aw, here," Dinah giggled at his comment about Severus, glad her husband was not here to hear it, and then walked up to Sirius and gave him a hug before pulling away and smiling broadly. "There. You probably deserve that by now, anyway. I should have done it sooner to make up for hitting you. You know, it actually feels nice to get it off my chest."

"The hugging or the hitting? I think I enjoyed the hugging more myself. I don't think I should thank you for the hitting," he said, his tone light, "It led to a conversation where I was forced to apologize to my archrival. Although it did allow me to blame my parents. I rather like blaming them for my shortcomings."

Dinah laughed. "Don't we all? And yes, I was referring to the hugging." She sensed that even now she made Sirius nervous because of what she had done to him back in January. Hopefully, her move helped him realize a little more that that was over with now.

Lucy grinned, "She doesn't hate you, you know. Actually, I think she rather likes you. After all, you are a pretty likable fellow."

"It's true," Dinah smiled, Lucy's comment encouraging her to speak further. "I hope you realize that. I'm not trying to make you nervous or anything, and that's all over with now."

Sirius nodded, "Thanks. I should probably take the last of this pasta away from you two, huh?"

"Oh," Dinah turned toward the remainder of the food on the table and grimaced. "Fine with me. I'm full."

"Me too," Lucy said, waving him away.

Sirius laughed, "You sure?"

"Yes, unequivocally," Dinah said with a firm nod, determined to be more stable about this whole thing. If she got hungry again she wasn't going to say anything. She could beat these hormones yet!

Lucy watched Sirius leave the room. The way her friend was watching him was a little too intense, like she was going to run after him and have her way with him on the kitchen floor. Dinah frowned, hoping she would not do so. Lucy looked over at Dinah and blushed, "Sorry. Hormones. At least we'll blame it on those. You know, I should have thought of this before but I can't really tell Ginny why she's going to have to sub for me, which means we probably shouldn't tell Hermione either…not that they can't know you're pregnant," Lucy sighed, "I don't know maybe I should just suck it up and tell Aunt Molly."

"Maybe it's better that way. I mean, it will be hard to explain away your needing a substitute teacher this far in advance with any _other _reason. On the other hand, do you think Ginny would be able to keep the information from her mother?"

Lucy shrugged, "I don't know. I don't think she'd go running to her if I asked her not to but I don't feel comfortable asking her to lie to her mother either. I guess, I don't know, what would you do? I mean if your parents were all about not having kids or sex until after you were married and you ended up pregnant."

"I...don't even know. I think I would try to at least wait until after the wedding. On the other hand, you _are _engaged and it's not like you're going to break up. They should know that much at least. If you're getting married in September maybe you could just wait until after the wedding to ask Ginny about subbing. It's only two months. Then you can just tell them all, because they'll figure out soon enough that you had to have conceived before the wedding, once you start to show."

"I like that option. Except we told Minerva we'd give them to the middle of August before looking around for someone else to fill in. Maybe I could ask her if she'd be willing to fill in for me in case of an emergency or something."

"An emergency caused by what?" Dinah asked, raising an eyebrow in an excellent imitation of her husband, if she did say so herself.

Lucy laughed, "I don't know. A sudden case of the dragon pox? I guess waiting to ask her is pretty much my only option unless I want to confess everything to the Weasleys. Nice eyebrow lift by the way. It's very…Snape-like."

Dinah laughed; "Well, I _am _a Snape now. Have to keep up my practice on the classic moves. And I think it's probably okay to wait until September. We can just let Minerva know. As long as we have an official decision made by November, which is sort of the date I threw out, then I think we're okay."

"I think you're right," Lucy sighed, "Well, now that that's taken care of all we have left to do is move everything up. Oh, and inform Hermione she's now a bridesmaid. Most of it shouldn't be too hard. We really need to get going on sending the invitations out though. Do you think your parents would like an invite? Sirius and I have already talked about it and if they'd like to come we'd love to have them. They were so nice when we met them at your wedding. We don't want them to feel like they have to come though. Your Aunt Mildred and the rest are included, of course."

Dinah burst out laughing; "You really want that woman at your wedding after what she did at mine?" Truthfully, Aunt Mildred was harmless, but she was very surprised that Lucy would want her at her own wedding after all the wackiness that had ensued at hers and Severus's, courtesy of the woman.

Lucy giggled, "Oh, she was amusing. She certainly did like Florencia didn't she?"

Dinah had to cover her mouth to stave off more laughter; "When did she tell you about Florencia?" Dinah had heard plenty of stories about her father's old flame, but she couldn't guess when Lucy had heard it. She had only left her friends alone with her aunt a handful of times at the wedding.

"When we were walking them to their cars. I had asked your parents how they met and your aunt…well I'm sure you can imagine."

"Oh," Dinah smiled; "Right, I recall that now. We sent you down the hill with them to find their cars. I was a little distracted at the time," she blushed, remembering the joyous honeymoon she and Severus had shared.

"Yes, well," Lucy grinned, "If I was about to apparate off to my honeymoon then I'd probably be a bit distracted too. I guess we really are going to have to put the honeymoon off now," Lucy sighed. She looked a little depressed by the thought, "Well, maybe this summer. Anyway, we just thought we'd like your family to join us."

Dinah smiled. "That's so nice. I'll ask them. Mum loves events like that, so I think it's probably a done deal. And you already know Aunt Mildred's usual behaviors;" she chuckled with her friend a bit before saying; "Actually, you can probably just go ahead and send an invite, I'm sure they'll be flattered."

Lucy stood and went to a drawer. She pulled out a couple folded pieces of parchment and handed them to Dinah, "Here. Why don't you go ahead and address these to them. I can sometimes be overly efficient. All the other invitations are already addressed I just haven't sent them out yet. Not that there was a huge amount of people to invite but still, it's all done, with a few left over in case we think of anyone. Oh, that sounds bad, doesn't it?"

"How does that sound bad?" Dinah took a quill from the desk and began addressing the envelope to her parents' home.

"Well, you know, like they weren't important enough for us to think about them initially or like we forgot about them or something. I don't know. Maybe the hormones are getting me again."

Dinah had to smile. "Oh, that's all right. You've only met my family once; I think it's nice of you to think about them at all. Here," she handed the envelope to Lucy.

Lucy took it back and put it in the drawer with the rest of them, "Thanks. We'll get them off soon, I promise. After we change the date on all of them," she grinned, "That's probably important, huh?"

"Oh, probably," Dinah laughed. "Don't worry, though, I'll give my parents a heads up on the invite so you won't have to rush or anything. But you'll have to arrange the whole 'Muggles in Hogwarts' thing with Minerva again."

"Well, we're about halfway through July so that only leaves August for people to receive and reply to the invites. They need to be rushed out and yes we will. I wanted to talk with you about inviting them before I bothered Minerva with that, though."

Sirius came back from the kitchen, licking his fingers as if he'd been picking at the pasta salad before putting it away; "Severus isn't back yet? Those potions must be more complicated than I thought."

"Some of them can be," Dinah admitted, and then frowned, "Plus I have no idea what he's going to decide to make for _me_. I think my little ... um, incidents yesterday and today really freaked him out."

Lucy grinned, "You'd think he'd be used to the mood swings by now. He's known me about a year. Though if I wasn't dealing with my own appetite issue I might be less sympathetic to yours."

Dinah frowned again. "That's not very nice. Besides, your mood swings were more something he could observe and smirk at. Mine are closer to him...I guess."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," she sniffled, "Oh, shoot. Darn hormones."

"It's fine, it's fine," Dinah said quickly, looking over at Sirius and hoping he would take control of this situation. She smiled a little, "If it helps, I think I'll get back at you by saying that it seems your normal hormone traits are exaggerated as well. So we're even."

Sirius took Dinah's hint and walked over to his fiancée, "Calm down, Lu. Why don't we go out back and play swivenhodge? We can play until ol' Sev comes back with his potions. Or we've got a couple sets of gobstones, if you'd rather play that."

"That sounds fun. Why don't we let our guest decide, though? What do you think, Dinah?"

"Hm," Dinah frowned. She wasn't sure about the Sev thing. She herself had always tried not to call "Hm," Dinah considered the question, chuckling a little as she wondered how her husband would feel about his old nemesis Sirius Black calling him 'Sev'. Well, she doubted Sirius would do so to his face, anyway. Though with all the teasing about Madam Puddifoot's, she couldn't be sure. It would be curious to see Severus's reaction. "Let's play swivenhodge. It's sucha nice day outside," she finally answered.

"That sounds fun. Though two on one doesn't seem very fair. I can sit on the sidelines and ref if you guys want," Lucy offered. She didn't look like she was going to be sick again, but she hadn't recovered her color yet either.

"Well, okay. If you feel up to it, though, you can play winner;" Dinah smiled. "After all, I don't want to feel like we're leaving you out."

Lucy laughed, "That sounds fine. I feel pretty good for now but you never know." She grabbed a book and followed them out into the yard. Dinah watched Sirius spread out the blanket he'd given Lucy for Christmas and help her settle into a comfortable position so she could watch them play.

Dinah waited as Sirius summoned over the ball and brooms, and then took one and moved to one side of the hedge. It was a little weird to be playing a game with just Sirius with Lucy watching, she couldn't help but think, as she batted the ball back to him and he missed it. She grinned. "One-zero."

Sirius growled, "That was a lucky shot. I'll get you back."

She served the ball and they batted it back and forth before Sirius missed it again.

"Well..." Dinah smiled innocently at him. "Third time's a charm, right?" She served it and after batting it a few more times he missed it again. "Or not," she laughed as he grumbled.

"Having fun?" an amused monotone asked from the back door. Dinah turned to see Severus standing there watching her and Sirius play with a raised eyebrow and two potion vials in one hand.

"Severus!" she tossed the broom aside and bounded over to her husband, grinning broadly; "We just realized that I have an undiscovered talent in swivenhodge!"

"Lovely. Now, do you want to-"

"My potion's ready?" Lucy said, jumping up from where she'd been laying.

"Yes," Severus said, holding one of the vials out to her; "Take no more than one spoonful of this any time you feel it is necessary. It should last six hours and at least minimize the symptoms, although they may not disappear completely."

Lucy took the potion from him and grabbed his face, kissing his cheek, "You are, by far, my favorite person today."

Severus just stared at her when she stepped away, and Dinah's own mouth was hanging open again as she looked back and forth between her husband and Lucy. Severus looked like he was in some sort of shock as Lucy continued to smile broadly at him.

"What the-" Sirius, on the other hand, put down his broom and started marching over to them, apparently the only person who wasn't at a total loss for words.

"Um... well, please just take it when you need to," Severus finally muttered, turning away from Lucy in embarrassment so that he was facing Dinah. But the look on Dinah's face had now transformed into a silly grin and he winced, looking more embarrassed. "All right, enough. Stop smiling," he covered her mouth with one hand just as Sirius made it over to them.

"What in the world is going on over here?" Sirius asked. He didn't look angry so much as really confused.

"Just thanking Severus for generously making a potion to keep me out of the bathroom so often," Lucy told him, smiling sweetly.

"You're welcome," Severus muttered, still slightly flushed, and then glared at Dinah, removing his hand from her mouth. "Now, as for you!"

"Uh, me?" she shot him an innocent grin.

He lifted the other vial and held it in front of her face. "This is an appetite stimulant. You will take it each and every time you suddenly feel as though you are not hungry."

"Really?" Dinah had to raise an eyebrow as she gently plucked the potion from his hands with two fingers. "You'd better be careful with this, Severus. If you choose to give it to me at the wrong time I just might accuse you of trying to make me fat."

Her husband just stared at her for a few moments, before wincing, groaning, and bringing his head to his hand. "Oh, no..." he took a few steps back from her. "This is impossible."

"Aw, honey," Dinah laughed affectionately, following him and putting an arm around his shoulders. "Come on. If you can handle two wizarding wars then you can certainly handle one little pregnant wife."

"Are you certain about that?" he grumbled.

Lucy laughed, "Oh, I think you'll manage just fine. Although, the true test for both husbands will probably be the actual delivery."

"Mm," Dinah frowned. "Probably a test for us, too. Although it's not as though we have a choice. They can choose to pass out if they want to, although they'll probably get yelled at when they wake up if they do."

"Hmm, you may be right. I'm not really looking forward to delivery at this point. Of course, I hear we'll be more than ready by the time it gets close. I suppose I should try to get in to see Poppy before school starts….or maybe your Muggle doctor, Dinah. If that's okay with you?" she asked, turning to Sirius.

"Whatever you want," he said, rubbing her back.

"Look at that," Dinah nudged Severus. "Sirius is open to Muggle doctors."

"I gave you your ultrasounds, what more do you want?" Severus growled.

"Oh, plenty," she laughed, withdrawing her arm from around him and squeezing his shoulder along the way. "But that will all come in time."

"Will it?" he challenged, his eyebrow raised.

Dinah ignored him and turned to Sirius. "Finish our game?"

"Sure. If you're ready to get thrashed soundly."

"We'll see about that," Dinah followed Sirius back over to the hedge to finish their game.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Lucy led Severus back over to the blanket she'd been reclining on and sat. He followed suit and for a few moments they watched their significant others swat the ball back and forth. She looked over at her former professor and sighed, "You're really happy, aren't you?"

He turned to look at her, his face mostly expressionless as usual, but that odd little light was still there. That light she saw in his eyes when he looked at, listened to, or was just generally in the same vicinity as Dinah. Finally, Severus smiled at her a little bit. "I mentioned that this morning, did I not?"

She giggled, blushing. He probably _had_ said that earlier but she'd missed it. "Sorry. I guess you did."

He sighed and looked back out at Dinah, his smile changing to one of gentle contemplation. "I never imagined I could be this happy."

"Neither did I," she said, laying down, "I mean there was a time I did, but then it all got taken away and I never thought I'd get it back. I thought that I didn't deserve to get it back. Even now I get this twinge every so often that's everything's going to disappear on me."

"I can't imagine that happening. He was reborn for you just as I was for her. Yet, I can't say I'm a stranger to the feeling. Actually," he frowned a little, considering his words. "It's more of a feeling of utter disbelief. I sometimes wonder if this is real. But it takes no more than a single smile from her for me to realize that it is..."

"Yes, that's exactly it." Lucy grinned, "The students are going to have _so_ much to take in this year, you know."

His frown deepened. "I don't know that I look forward to it. I was lucky to manage to get their fear back this year once that infernal youthening spell was removed. Now they'll think of me as a married man, and I wonder if they will be quite as frightened. Not that I intend on keeping the marriage from them. The half of me that wants to tell the world about Dinah easily wins out over the half that wants to frighten students," he chuckled slightly. "It is an interesting position to be in, and one with which I'm not exactly familiar."

Lucy laughed, "Well, as a former student I find you far less intimidating now but don't let me discourage you from frightening your current crop of students. However, just wait till they find out about the baby. Lucky for you though, they'll probably be distracted for the first couple weeks with the wedding and all."

"Ideally. Although they really don't have to know until they...have to, if you understand my meaning. Until she begins to show."

"Yes, I understand. I assume you talked to Dinah about that since she actually likes her students and talks to them occasionally," she grinned.

"I will talk with her about it. I don't think she'll be adverse to the suggestion," Severus said, looking out at his wife again. "The only person that might be a problem is Mae, since she apparently already knows."

Lucy grimaced. She'd almost forgotten they'd told Mae about Dinah's pregnancy. "Right. Sorry about that. I hope you understand. It's not so much that I care if people know but I'm afraid parents will not be thrilled with the idea. That and Aunt Molly won't be happy with it either so it's just best we get married before everyone finds out."

Severus nodded. "I see. Well, best of luck with that;" at Lucy's irritated expression he threw in. "Really, I mean it, I wasn't just being sarcastic. I think the best thing you can do is exactly what you're doing."

"Thank you. I suppose as long as I manage to not constantly throw up during the first week of school everything will be fine. Hogwarts just might be the best place to be having this baby. Between Madam Pomfrey and you, Dinah and I should have nothing to worry about if anything should come up. Not that Sirius isn't….I just mean with your potion skills and all…well, I'm sure you know what I mean."

Severus laughed. "Oh, I'm sure Sirius will be of some use. Even if it's only guaranteeing that your child will not be afraid of dogs."

"There is that," Lucy grinned, closing her eyes.

After a few more moments of silence Severus laughed. "It seems my wife has beaten your fiancé soundly."

"Mmm?" She hoped Severus hadn't noticed she'd fallen asleep.

"I said-" Severus began, and then stopped as Lucy vaguely saw Dinah sit next to her husband and wrap her arms around his waist.

"I'm very talented," she said.

"I noticed," he laughed, briefly kissing her lips.

Sirius came back, throwing himself down on the ground next to Lucy. "Hmph!"

"Sore loser?" Lucy asked him, slowly waking up.

"No," he said shortly. "Your friend's just incredibly lucky is all."

"I don't think so," Dinah retorted, drawing away from her husband to glare at Sirius. "I won fair and square through the use of my illustrious talents."

Sirius snorted, "Fair and square, maybe, but those were hardly illustrious talents. If we'd been playing quidditch…"

Lucy sat up on her elbows, "I think we all know James was better at that than you. Besides, Quidditch is much too dangerous for the pregnant people."

"I'm good enough with a broom but I've never really done any Quidditch practice, so I'm sure you'd win," Dinah laughed. "So no need to test that. Severus here can actually fly without a broom, you know?" she gestured to her husband. "Mr. Talented All-Powerful Wizard."

Severus managed to look a little embarrassed. "Learned from Dumbledore. It was useful in my line of work at the time."

"Yep, Double-o Severus, master spy who can fly."

"Has she been drinking?" Severus asked Lucy and Sirius, pointing at Dinah. "Because we have established that that is not a wise decision at this time in her life."

Lucy thought she was probably looking at Dinah like she was crazy. "If she has," she said, speaking to Severus, "she's been sneaking it."

Dinah laughed. "I haven't been. I think I've just come off of some kind of high from the exercise and discovering my new talent."

"And being pregnant has nothing to do with it either," Severus added sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, no," Lucy said, her face very serious, "we all know pregnancy does nothing to your emotions." She waited a moment before grinning.

Dinah burst out laughing. "I know, I know. But we should take advantage of this good mood, right?"

"In the middle of the day?" Lucy was shocked, not thinking that the other couple was the type to be so blatant about such things.

"There's nothing wrong with it Lu. It's not as if we've never…"

"Oh, shut up," Lucy said, hiding her face in her hands.

"In fact…" Sirius trailed off as if she hadn't spoken, his hand traveling over her stomach.

"_That_ was not the middle of the day. It was late at night."

Dinah flushed as Severus stared between her and Lucy and Sirius. "I didn't mean _that_," she said, absently running her hand along the edge Severus's robes, causing his gaze to shift unequivocally to her and increase in intensity. "I was just speaking generically, I didn't really mean anything. Then again," she giggled, "if you want to turn us loose in your guest room I'm not going to argue..."

Lucy groaned, "Whatever you two get up to in the guest bed is your business but I'm not sure giving you permission for a little afternoon delight is necessary."

"How unfortunate," Severus murmured, still staring intently at Dinah.

Dinah giggled. "Uh oh, I think I've inadvertently started something," she snuggled up to him. "But don't worry, I was joking. Actually, I'm hungry! It's almost dinner time now, right?"

Sirius laughed, "I'm sure we can have dinner soon if you want. Lu might want to take a bit of that potion first."

"Yeah," Lucy said, frowning at the thought of food. She'd been feeling fine until Dinah mentioned dinner. "I'll go do that. Why don't the three of you figure out what we're having in the meantime?"

"Okay. I hope it works for you. Not that there's any way it wouldn't. My husband is a genius after all." She kissed Severus's cheek and then her eyes lit up. "Ooh, this would be the perfect time to try out my appetite stimulant!"

"What?" Severus demanded. "You just said you were hungry. That is for when you aren't hungry."

"So? It'll be a fun experiment."

Lucy laughed and rolled her eyes, leaving the three of them to discuss dinner.

* * *

><p>"You think she'll be okay?" Sirius asked, watching Lucy disappear into the house. "I mean, with the stress from her father, the wedding, and then toss the morning sickness on it…"<p>

"I think that the potion will mostly take care of the morning sickness, and she will have plenty of help and support from other people with the wedding," Severus said decidedly. "As for her father..."

"I think now that she's gotten it off of her chest to you, she should feel a lot less stressed about that as well," Dinah said.

"Yes, likely," Severus agreed, nodding at her.

"Hmmm. Wait," Sirius said, looking at Severus, something just occurring to him, "You knew. How did you know? I doubt she told you everything upstairs."

"I was a member of the Order, witness to the happenings at the time," Severus said simply, looking surprised that Sirius hadn't realized this yet.

"The Order knew? Remus knew? She had…I mean, I get why Tonks would do it. Why she would lie but Remus?" He knew he probably looked like an idiot for just figuring all this out but it was really the first time the thought had occurred to him. "All the Weasleys knew? Harry?"

"The Weasleys and all of the adult members of The Order know," Severus said, absently running a hand through Dinah's hair; "I do not know about Potter," he scowled at the boy's name.

"Sorry, I wasn't suggesting you would. I just…she had all those people lying to me?" He wasn't mad. He was just having trouble processing this new information.

"Well," Dinah said, resting her hand on Severus's knee, "Don't judge her too harshly. She was having a really hard time with the whole thing, and hated not telling you, but I don't think she could quite stop herself."

"I believe," Severus added, "According to some of the things that have been happening and what she told me upstairs this morning, that it became quite a dilemma for all players involved. I'm sure... Remus wanted to tell you, but out of respect for Lucy none of us, Dinah and myself included at least recently, wanted to do something against her wishes. But I believe if she continued to hold out eventually one of them - Lupin or the Weasleys - would have cracked and told you. In that case, she would have felt betrayed by them and it would have been worse for all those involved."

"I didn't _ask_ them to lie to you," Lucy said, coming out of the back door. "The first meeting we had after I came back…I asked them not to tell anyone who didn't know. I was tired of them treating me like a cracked piece of glass. Like if they didn't treat me gently enough I'd break and they wouldn't be able to fix me. I couldn't stop them. But I could stop other people from doing it. People who knew me before. I thought I could bluff my way through; that they wouldn't notice something about me had changed," she shrugged and sat down on the blanket, "You remember the first time we came here? Remus told me to tell you about it all then. But I couldn't. I was scared."

"Scared of what?" he asked.

She smiled and chuckled softly, "You really have no idea how much I changed, do you? That whole experience even went so far as to change my Patronus."

"That is quite a lot of change," Dinah said, nodding. "Even I didn't' realize that happened to you. It means a lot. I'm still surprised that Severus's changed."

"Emotional upheavals will do it. Tonks's changed after she fell for Remus. Mine used to be a cougar. Big and scary and confident. Now it's an antelope. Rather skittish creatures I think, though they are pretty and graceful." She turned back to Sirius, "I was scared that I was going to burst our bubble. That something was going to happen and I was going to break. I was scared you were going to leave; that…I don't know how to put it into words. I was just scared. I remember being in a place where I was so afraid, so sad, so lonely and I couldn't go back there." Sirius took the sleeve of his robe and brushed away a couple of tears that had fallen onto her cheeks. "I worked for what felt like a very long time to be useful again, normal, and then there you were and…I was _happy_ again. I was remembering what that felt like because I hadn't felt that for so long. I just…I couldn't risk that. I know it was selfish, stupid, and wrong but I just couldn't."

"We understand," Dinah said sympathetically. "That sounds... so unbelievably hard. I mean, I can't imagine what I would have felt like if I was with Severus when he ...died. Seeing it in the pensieve was hard enough. But that was only a few hours, not two years."

"Your Patronus changed when he died or when he was revived?" Severus asked.

"Um, well, at first I couldn't conjure one at all. I used it to communicate with others before the final battle which is the only reason I know it changed before he came back…"

"Curious. The Patronus charm is a manifestation of positive energy, so the antelope has to be the right thing for you now. I wouldn't worry about its change of form. I just would have thought the antelope was an expression of the happiness you feel now that he's back, and yet you say it had changed before."

"Changing Patronuses _is_ very uncommon, isn't it?" Dinah asked.

Severus offered her a small smile. "In a way. But perhaps not so much as you might think. It is the happy thought that generates it. Therefore, I don't know why you're surprised mine changed. The kind of happiness you give me, it could be nothing else. That's why I was curious about Lucy's."

"Well," Lucy said, "I wonder if it might have something to do with me not realizing I loved him until _after_ he died."

"That might be the case," Dinah agreed, looking very happy as she leaned against her husband.

"Yes, a similar thing happened with your friend, did it not?" Severus asked.

"Remus didn't die, if that's what you mean, at least not before they got together. But yeah, her Patronus changed after she fell in love with him and he rejected her because he has self confidence issues. He thought he was too old, too poor…"

"That's sad," Dinah frowned. "I'm glad it worked out for them, though."

"I didn't mean his death, I meant the falling in love part," Severus said; "As I recall, her Patronus also changed when she was still...unhappy about the situation. It was a weak one, however."

"Yes," Lucy said, quietly, "I don't really know much about that. I, uh, wasn't around when most of that was going on. Though I don't know that I'd have considered my Patronus particularly strong the few times I used it before the revival."

"They do say Patronuses often take the form of the person that you love," Dinah said. "Not that Sirius is an antelope," she chuckled, "But Lupin is a wolf and I'm...well, I'm not a snake. Never mind, I don't know what I'm talking about."

Sirius wrapped his arms around Lucy's waist and pulled her close. "If you think about it it kind of makes sense."

Lucy nodded, "That hadn't occurred to me before but now that you say that I think you're right."

"What do you mean?" Dinah asked, looking confused.

"Oh, sorry," Lucy said, "Not to bring up an uncomfortable topic or anything but Sirius and James were the best of friends. James and Lily's Patronuses…well, I think antelope and deer are related…" she turned back to face Sirius, "It's sort of like you got the approval from them you were looking for, isn't it?"

Sirius nodded, "In a way."

"I don't mean that I fully believe they caused our Patronuses to specifically change to antelope but it's an interesting idea, you have to admit."

"That's a lovely idea," Dinah said.

"There may be some truth to it. Often the magic creating a Patronus's form is hard to interpret and can involve deep psychological or subconscious undercurrents," Severus said, frowning. "Then, perhaps it is a good thing. The two antelopes together just as the doe and stag were."

"Really? That's okay with you?" Lucy asked, seeming a little surprised.

Severus nodded his head. "Why wouldn't it be, now? The doe belongs with the stag. My best childhood friend chose someone that made her happy and I should have accepted her choice from the beginning. I may not have liked James, but if Lily chose him I should have been happy for her as her friend. I regret that now."

"James probably wouldn't have said so, but I think he would have appreciated that. Would have made things easier for him with Lily in the beginning anyway."

Severus smirked; "Oh, I don't know, I think he half enjoyed hexing me all the time. Granted, he was an easy target and all I had left. For what it was worth, I did leave Lily alone after she told me to go away - mostly," he looked a little sheepish at the last comment.

Sirius laughed at his old opponent, "I _know_ he enjoyed hexing you. For all her vaunted kindness Lily could have quite the mean streak. There was one time, just after she and James married, I wasn't allowed to visit for a month. She'd grounded me and James. Can you believe that? Grounded us! Grown men."

Severus laughed; "I _can_ believe it, actually. It's nice to know she still found some of your behaviors disagreeable. Still, she did choose James. Clearly they fit together better than I saw at the time." He turned a smile to Dinah, one nothing like the smiles he had ever given Lily; "Ultimately, I fell in love with the girl who_ didn't_ tell me to go away."

Dinah smiled and nuzzled her forehead against her husband's; "Yes, if anybody was a psycho obsessed stalker this year it was clearly me."

"I wouldn't go that far," Severus laughed. "The main thing is that the doe went with the stag and I am happy with my snake."

"Oh, so I guess I_ am_ a snake now," Dinah teased, kissing her husband.

"Just as long as you snakes don't attack my fox," Sirius lay back, pulling Lucy with him, "There is no way any of my friends couldn't love you. Well, maybe Peter but I think we know now he was made of less than honorable stuff."

"Mmm. I assume dinner never came up while I was gone? I'm actually kind of hungry now."

"Oh, I forgot about food. Well, we don't have to eat right away. I could wait awhile, I don't feel so hungry anymore," Dinah said with a completely straight face.

Sirius burst out laughing, "Even I know that's not likely."

"Really?" Severus looked quite agitated again. "After everything you've seen today? Clearly her hunger keeps switching on and off. I do _not_ like it."

"Oh, well why don't we make something that'll take awhile?" Dinah offered, looking like she felt a little bad for messing with Severus's head like this; "Surely by the time it's done I'll be hungry again."

"If not, you will take the stimulant," Severus declared.

"And you," Sirius said, rolling to pin Lucy beneath his chest, "better keep this down."

She giggled, lightly pushing up on his chest, "I'll do my best."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

By the time the steaks were nearly finished sizzling Dinah was most definitely hungry again. _Starving_, in fact. The smell of cooking meat was just tantalizing today, she thought as she popped another piece of the celery she was chopping for the salad into her mouth.

"Still have your appetite?" Lucy grinned, watching the knife she'd spelled to slice the tomatoes.

"At the moment," Dinah smiled, preferring to chop her vegetables manually as usual, which had surprised Lucy at first. "I think I'm definitely going to try that appetite stimulant though. I'm curious to see what it does." She ate another piece of celery.

Laughing, Lucy said, "You'll probably eat so much Severus will worry again. Now, if you want any of that celery in the salad I suggest you stop eating it."

Whining a little, Dinah nodded. The inside pieces of the celery were so good, though. Well, she'd try to put them all in one corner of the salad and allow herself first servings so she could take all those pieces before anyone else got to them. "I don't want to worry him, but since my appetite keeps shifting randomly anyway maybe I won't be hungry in a few minutes. Either way, I see no reason not to just _try _it. Besides, you're all here to stage an intervention if I start trying to eat the tablecloth or something."

"Of course," Lucy assured her and sighed, "Food will look appetizing again one day, won't it?"

"Maybe today," Dinah smiled, trying to be encouraging. "You took the potion, right?"

"Yes and it _is _helping. At least I think it is. I suppose the true test will be after I've eaten."

Dinah nodded, dumping her celery on top of the salad after Lucy did the same with her tomatoes; "Potatoes done?"

Lucy moved to the stove and poked the potatoes with her wand, "I think so." She took her wand out of the boiling water and waved it, making the pot hover over to the sink and dump itself into the strainer.

"I'll go get butter! Lots and lots and lots of butter!" Dinah practically skipped over to the cool box before opening it. When she did she just stared for a moment, and then laughed, turning a sheepish glance to Lucy; "Except I don't know where the butter _is_."

"It's in there. Should be next to the eggs." There was a little snort before Lucy said, "I don't know what those two are talking about out there, but they're both becoming quite animated."

Dinah located the butter and took it out, handing it over to Lucy as she approached her friend. "Let's go out there and see."

When they made it outside Sirius was standing in front of the grilling apparatus flipping steaks over with his wand and Severus was sitting in a nearby chair glaring at him; "You should have flipped those five minutes ago," Dinah's husband said to the other man.

Sirius bent to put another log into the fire under the grill. "And I told you, the steaks should be cooked all the way through. You want to serve your wife a medium-rare steak and have her get some sort of illness that won't be good for the baby?"

"As long as the outside is fully cooked it's fine. Bacteria only touch the outside anyway, and that is irrelevant as you can use magic to destroy such things, which we _did _before we started, need I remind you? You should have flipped them simply to get more even cooking."

Lucy walked up behind Sirius, wrapping her arms around him. "You two fight like an old married couple. Anyone walking by would think you actually_ like_ each other."

"That is not true!" Severus nearly shouted, standing from his chair, acting like as like his young self as he ever did after the youthening reversal; "What is likeable about someone who doesn't know how to cook meat properly?" Dinah had to cover her mouth and hunch over a little to keep her laughter in check.

"Well, then here!" Sirius growled, nearly knocking Lucy over as he marched to Severus and thrust his wand at him. "You cook them then."

"Now, now, boys," Dinah laughed, holding her hands out between them; "Yes, of all the things to argue about let's pick cooking meat. It is, after all, an important current events topic that could change all our lives."

Lucy came to stand next to Dinah, gently pushing Sirius's wand back towards him, "You know, handing someone else your wand is very trusting. He gets antsy when _I_ hold it."

Dinah blinked at Lucy's comment, realizing that that was indeed true and that Severus had just sort of been staring at Sirius's wand since the other man had thrust it at him; "Wow, you two really _must _love each other, then, "she teased. "Maybe we should send you back to Madam Puddifoot's for more dessert?"

Severus turned an annoyed look on Dinah as Sirius, embarrassed, stuffed his wand back into his robes and returned silently to the grill to finish off the steaks; "Are you hungry now?" Severus demanded, ignoring her previous comment.

"Yes."

"Good."

"Now, give me the appetite stimulant," Dinah walked forward, reaching her hand out.

"What?" Severus's hand reached into his pocket to grasp the vial Dinah had handed back to him awhile ago, but he did not take it out. Instead he drew back a few steps, looking nearly affronted; "No! This is not a _game_, Dinah. I am not giving it to you to 'experiment' with; you have to use it when you're _not _hungry."

"Oh, come on, for all we know I'll be not hungry in two minutes," she wiggled her hand in the air in front of him, making grasping motions; "Come on. Give it."

Lucy giggled from where she stood, "I told you you'd freak him out, Dinah."

"I am not 'freaked out'!" Severus retorted, turning to Lucy.

Dinah chuckled. This was a 'young Severus' day, for sure. "Come on, Lucy promised she wouldn't let me eat the tablecloth."

"It's true. I did," Lucy confirmed. "Of course, she also promised me food would look appetizing again one day…I'm not sure I believe her, though."

"Maybe you should wait to eat until you're hungry then," Sirius suggested, "Or perhaps Dinah will share her stimulant with you."

"Let's all have some!" Dinah exclaimed, and when Severus growled at her she laughed; "Kidding, kidding. _Please _let me try it?"

"You aren't going to let this go until I say yes, are you?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Nope."

Severus sighed, withdrawing his hand from his pocket and extending the vial to her again; "Fine. But if _something goes wrong_…"

"It won't, it won't!" A little voice in Dinah's head shouted warning at her as she grabbed the item from her husband, but she ignored it, instead popping off the lid and taking a single drink.

And then gagging. "EW! Severus, you call that an appetite stimulant?" Grimacing, she recapped the vial and stuck it into her robe pocket before turning to her friend; "If you want food to taste good again _don't drink that_!"

Lucy pouted, "I suppose I'll just have to suck it up. I _have_ been doing better in the evening most times though and I think the nausea's passing really…"

"That's good," Dinah agreed, and then she sniffed the air. The smell of the steaks Sirius was levitating from the grill onto the plate hit her all at once and she was _ravenous_! "Sirius!" she hurried over to stand by her husband's old enemy, peering over his shoulder at the tantalizing meat; "Are they done, are they done?"

Sirius chuckled, "Well, I think so, but perhaps we should ask your husband? He is apparently an expert chef."

"They are already _over_done, but only on one side," Severus grumbled.

"Lucy!" Dinah shrieked, running over to stand in front of her friend; "We forgot about the potatoes when we came out here! Go mash them! The salad's done though, right? Sev, set the table!" she whirled next on her husband; "Now! I _have _to eat!"

"I knew this was going to happen," Severus _almost _whined, coming over and grasping her shoulders to glare into her eyes; "We will eat soon. You can wait five minutes."

"But I really can't!"

Her friend rolled her eyes, "I set them to mashing before we walked out. Didn't you notice? But, if it will make you happy I'll go in and check on them. Maybe add some spices to it."

"Spices, yes!" she pulled away from Severus to run back to Lucy's side; "Plenty of salt and pepper, maybe a little garlic salt. As much butter as possible, and make them fluffy and creamy. And don't forget to salt the salad! What kind of dressing are we using? Do you have any snacks I can eat before dinner?" She knew it was the appetite stimulant talking, but she just couldn't shut up, she was so desperately hungry.

Lucy looked like she was trying to restrain a laugh but managed to say, "How about I add some minced garlic like I was planning and put the salt and pepper on the side for those that want it. You've tasted my food before. You should know it'll taste wonderful. It might look like it's got spattergroit but it's edible. And while I'm tending to the potatoes I'll see if there's anything for you to snack on, okay?"

"Okay, thanks," Dinah had a feeling she looked quite pathetic; "Please hurry. I'm really, _really _hungry. I mean, seriously, I can't think about anything else right now."

"You can hex me if you wish," Severus muttered aside to Sirius. "In honor of James, for old time's sake, whatever you want. I need to be punished for giving in to her so easily."

"Oh, I think her current state is punishment enough. Besides, if I did hex you Dinah might eat me."

"I'll take anything," Dinah admitted, wandering over to look at the plate of steaks; "There's a little piece there… almost falling off that one…" she pointed and turned a pleading gaze to Sirius.

The man grinned and waved his wand at the plate, floating a little piece of steak over to her. "Here. Tell me it's overcooked," he challenged.

"I really couldn't tell you, anything tastes perfect to me now," Dinah admitted, devouring the piece as soon as she could grab ahold of it. It seemed to soothe the hunger pangs for a brief moment and she grinned; "Good choice not hexing Severus, though. As soon as he came to his senses he might have retaliated. You should know that he's previously asked my permission to use _Sectumsempra _on your toenail. I told him no."

"That was ages ago!" Severus grumbled, watching her warily.

Sirius raised a single eyebrow, "And what could I possibly have done to warrant such a punishment?"

"Snuck that up-close picture at our wedding," Dinah admitted. "Nice eyebrow raise, by the way. Are you two _sure _you don't want to go back to Madam Puddifoot's?"

Sirius actually blushed, "I enjoyed myself there but my other half was embarrassed to be seen with me. It's made me feel terrible about myself. I wonder if he's ashamed of me."

"Would you stop that?" Severus demanded.

Dinah giggled, and then suddenly a wave of hunger washed over her again and she moaned, clutching her stomach.

"What?" Severus stopped glaring at Sirius in an instant to turn a worried look to her.

"Uh, nothing," she blushed, feeling very sheepish right now; "Just hungry."

Thankfully, Lucy chose that moment to come out of the house, a pretzel rod sticking out of her mouth and the bag in her hand. "I found some pretzels," she said around the one in her mouth, "Would you like one?"

"YES!" Dinah found herself shrieking, and a tiny part of her determined that she was going to be very embarrassed later, but right now the pretzels took first priority. She wrenched the bag from Lucy's grasp and devoured one at twice her normal speed before beginning another; "Is dinner almost ready, then? Sirius, those steaks go on the table. Severus, you're supposed to set the table! Do I have to do everything myself? I am busy being afflicted by the potion from hell, if you all haven't noticed yet."

"Oh, I think we've noticed," Severus sighed, walking up to stand next to her; "We'll get dinner for you. _Now _do you understand why I didn't want you to take the potion?"

"Mm," she whimpered miserably, starting on her fourth pretzel as he put an arm around her. She snuggled into his shoulder but didn't stop eating; "How long will it last?"

"It should only last for an hour or so," he admitted, stroking her hair; "If you could just wait it out…"

"I can't!" she lifted her head to stare at him; "I'm hungry! My stomach feels like a bottomless pit! Don't make me wait!"

Sirius set up the dinner table outside since it was so nice out while Lucy giggled. "Watch it, Dinah," she said, "Words like that are probably what got you pregnant in the first place."

Dinah managed a blush even through her hunger; "Doctor said it was probably during exam week that it happened… I bet it was that day we decided to take a 'break'… it felt sort of good afterwards, like all was right with the world or something." She sighed; "I wish I could remember such a feeling," she stared down into the now-empty pretzel bag and shot Lucy an apologetic look; "Sorry. It seems like every time I visit you I eat all your food. At Christmas it was the tortilla crisps…"

Lucy sighed, dramatically, "It's a good thing we went grocery shopping before you got here then. And," she said, waving her wand, bringing out all the food and condiments from inside, "it's time to eat."

Dinah was at her seat in an instant, briefly wondering when she'd learned to run that fast, and spooning her side of the salad where she'd placed all the inner celery pieces into her bowl before drenching it in dressing and piling her plate with potatoes and the biggest piece of steak she could find. Her knife wouldn't cut the meat fast enough.

"Dinah, Dinah," she vaguely registered Severus sitting down next to her as she started shoveling salad into her mouth. At least until he grabbed her wrist to stop her; "Slow down. You ate a whole bag of pretzels already. You don't need to eat anymore; the hunger is all psychological. When the potion runs out you are going to be sick. If you could just slow down!"

"I _can't _! You brewed this potion; you should know that I can't!"

"I brewed it for when you were _not _hungry, not when you were already hungry anyway! I didn't realize it would be this bad," he tried to take her fork from her but she wouldn't let go.

"It's a good thing we have two bathrooms," Lucy said, "Otherwise we'd probably be fighting for it later."

"I hope not," Dinah managed, her devouring of the salad with rich, oily dressing subduing the hunger pangs long enough for her to find the patience to cut her steak again; "Maybe my body is used to this."

"Only if you stop now," Severus sighed, releasing her wrist and apparently giving up for the time being. Reaching for the salad, he stopped halfway; "Dinah, you took all of the toppings."

"Oops," looking up, Dinah realized that it was indeed true. She had essentially gotten all the celery and tomatoes off the top of the salad when she'd spooned it into her bowl.

Lucy giggled, "She ate half of them before they even got in the bowl."

Sirius stood up, "Do we have any more? I can go cut some."

"No, Dinah ate all the celery, but there should be another tomato in there. Oh, and chick peas! And cheese!"

Sirius leaned down and kissed his fiancé's cheek, "Appetite return?"

"Yes, the nausea's gone. Now hurry up before it comes back," she shooed him away.

"At least one potion is being used properly," Severus grumbled, turning to the potatoes instead while they waited for Sirius to come back with more tasty toppings.

"Well," Dinah said, dipping a piece of steak into her mashed potatoes; "at least now you have some data on how your appetite stimulant works when given to a hungry person. That should be at least useful."

"Possibly," he sighed.

She grinned, "Then you should thank me for it."

"I'm not sure the positives outweigh the negatives," he raised an eyebrow as she finished off her potatoes and went to serve herself some more.

"Wait, Dinah, wait!" Lucy urged, "They'll be so much better with cheese! It's not just to put on the salad, you know."

"Oh! Cheese on the potatoes? Brilliant! Okay, I'll just have more steak, then," she dove at the second half of her meat.

Sirius didn't take long with those new salad toppings, but he handed the bag of shredded cheese right to Lucy. Her friend then preceded use a third of the bag on her potatoes, salad, and steak.

"I like cheese," she blushed when she noticed Dinah's expression.

"I guess your appetite is definitely back then, huh?" Dinah smiled, holding her hand out for the bag. The desperation associated with her hunger was dissipating now that she'd gotten a lot of food into her system, but that didn't mean she wasn't still hungry.

"For now. Until morning at least. Do you think I should take some more before bed?" she asked, looking at Severus. "You said it only lasts six hours though…"

"You could take it before bed if you wish," Dinah's husband answered Lucy, but his eyes were on her as she took a second piece of steak. "I would try not to exceed three doses in one day."

"Okay," Lucy nodded. "Was there anything you guys wanted to do tonight? Twister's probably not the best idea…Dancing!" she said, suddenly, "What about dancing? I'm learning how and I'm told I'm doing very well."

"Of course you are," Sirius told her. "You have an extremely talented teacher so how could you not be?"

"You want to… practice dancing?" Dinah double-checked this. The idea sounded just lovely to her but Severus's expression indicated he felt otherwise. "I guess you'll have dancing at your wedding, won't you?"

Giggling, Lucy confirmed, "Yes. It's so much fun. Don't worry, I won't force you to do it if you don't want to, though."

"Oh, let's just try!" Dinah urged the still-frowning Severus, smiling to try and counter it; "Do you know how to dance?"

He grunted agreement; "Enough. The headmaster decided it was necessary for all the faculty to learn along with the students at the last Yule Ball, even if we were choosing not to dance at the event."

Lucy gasped at his words, "Oh no! We're not going to be able to dance very well at the Yule Ball! We'll be far too heavy to lift during the opening dance."

Dinah sighed; "Well, I guess it will be an adventure. We're still dancing at the Yule Ball, though," she told her husband decidedly. "And at Lucy's wedding, too. I won't force you to be the center of attention but is it so much to ask to dance with your wife a few little times?"

"Did I ever say I wouldn't?" he challenged, looking annoyed.

She blushed; "Well, no but you're scowling."

"And your point is?"

She laughed; "Okay, okay. Either way, if we're going to dance it can't hurt to practice a little tonight, especially if that's what our generous hostess would like us to do."

"Fine," he grumbled, stabbing his steak.

"We really don't have to…" Lucy said, looking worried.

Dinah laughed, shaking her fork reprovingly at her friend with a piece of steak still on the end; "Now, don't start with that. I said we will, Severus said fine. Thus, we're doing it."

"All right; not until after dessert though and if it'll make Severus feel better we can do it inside."

"Are you sure?" Sirius grinned, "There's more room out here."

Severus looked like he was about to comment but Dinah interrupted him with a shriek of; "Dessert! What are we having?"

"You are not to think about dessert until you finish – what am I saying, don't finish that steak _or _think about dessert!" Severus ordered, turning to Lucy; "Has an hour passed yet?"

Lucy shook her head, "No, I think it's only been maybe half an hour. We have cheesecake for dessert by the way. I suppose we could have had it last night instead of making the men go to Madam Puddifoot's, but everything we ordered sounded _so_ good."

"Oh, but they needed to go, it was an important step in their relationship," Dinah said, ignoring Severus and eating more steak.

"It would have been if Severus hadn't tried to run out on me," Sirius said, "I was so embarrassed."

Severus groaned, stabbing his steak again; "Make him stop that, will you!" he entreated Dinah.

She giggled; "This really isn't your type of humor, is it?"

"You noticed?"

"He's just doing it because it annoys you," Dinah said, taking more salad and putting an appropriate amount of cheese on top.

"I could silence him for you," Lucy offered, "but you won't like my method. I _have_ found it to be the most effective, though."

Severus sighed; "They never stop."

"All right, all right, that's enough picking on my husband for the time being," Dinah decided to show Severus some mercy, "After all, one's sense of humor cannot change overnight."

"All right," Lucy consented, stringing some of the cheese that had melted into her potatoes. "I wouldn't want to upset him too much anyway. He might start refusing me anti-nausea potions."

"We wouldn't want that," Sirius agreed.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Watch out for the – !" Lucy tried to warn her fiancé before he steered them too close to the couch that had been shoved against the wall in an effort to avoid their guests.

"Oof," he grunted as they landed, thankfully, on the couch.

Dinah, herself dancing more demurely with her reluctant husband, turned to smile at them; "And you said he was good at this."

Lucy could feel her face start to flame as they stood up and went back to dancing, "He is…or he _was_ anyway."

As if to prove her statement, Sirius led her into a graceful twirl before he dipped her. "See?" he said, "I didn't drop you. Now, shall we waltz?"

"Yes, please," she said coquettishly. Waltzing with him was by far her favorite way of dancing as a couple.

"Ahh, I see," Dinah grinned, "Very smooth."

"I'm not doing that," Severus made a point to protest.

Dinah smiled at him; "That's fine. It's just nice to dance with you like this."

Severus gripped his wife's waist a little tighter, the barest hint of a smile on his lips; "I admit it has its good points."

Lucy attempted to move in closer to Sirius and dance as the other couple was, but he held her firmly away in the positions they should be in for a proper waltz. "But I like the way they're dancing," she whined.

"Yes, but you promised Severus we wouldn't tease him anymore and dancing like that has, in the past, led to some things I won't mention. All in the interest of keeping Severus happy and you in ample supply of anti-nausea potions."

"Very generous of you," Severus grumbled.

"We should try waltzing too, for the Yule Ball dances, if we choose to participate," Dinah said, stepping back - a little reluctantly - and staring down at her feet to try to get them in position. She had just readjusted her hand's position in Severus's when she froze. "Oh no..."

"What? What's wrong?" Lucy asked, forcing Sirius to stop moving or risk knocking her over.

Dinah's hands released her husband and instead wandered down to clutch her stomach as she groaned; "I don't feel good." Towards the end of dessert the appetite stimulant had apparently worn off and Dinah had forgone the last bit of her cheesecake saying she was not hungry anymore. But apparently the real effects of her gluttony at dinner did not want to reveal themselves until now, twenty minutes later. Dinah shot her worried-looking husband an apologetic glance; "I don't suppose Lucy's anti-nausea potion could help me?"

Severus sighed; "Not for this kind of nausea, no."

"Are you sure? Morning sickness can strike at any time you know, not just in the mornings. There were times I had to sneak out of the bedroom at night because of it."

"Nice," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, "Do you really wish morning sickness on your friend instead of a one-time stomach upset from eating too much?"

"Well, no," Lucy said, sheepishly. That really hadn't been what she'd meant at all. "I mean the first time I…I thought I just had the flu. It was when it didn't go away after two weeks that I started thinking it was something else."

"No," Dinah shook her head, looking a little pale, leaning over a little; "This is most definitely not morning sickness. It _hurts_. There's not just nausea but pain. It's from the food. I need to sit down."

"Here," Severus's arms went around her and he led her over to the notorious couch, sitting next to her on it; "Do you need anything? Do you need to use the restroom?"

Dinah shook her head in a vehement 'no'; "Not yet. I'll try to wait it out."

Severus grimaced and glanced at Lucy, "Perhaps you should fetch a bucket or something, just in case..."

"Yes, of course." She started searching the room for the right container. "No…not that…that's not big enough…here!" She waved her wand at the rubbish bin hiding in the corner near the desk. It was an attractive, nice-sized one but not something she was particularly attached to.

Dinah looked pointedly away from the object; "I'm usually good at avoiding vomiting, but thanks, I guess." Looking up at Lucy, she added; "Do you have some kind of mild juice, like apple? Sipping it slowly sometimes helps with the nausea."

"You want to put_ more _in your system?" Severus demanded, looking a little incredulous.

His wife shook her head, "It's not for eating; it's for soothing. But maybe you're right and it won't work this time..."

Sirius snorted. Lucy thought it was rather rude, but then he said; "You're asking Lucy if she has apple juice? Do you not remember the argument you walked into a couple days ago?"

"Oh, shut up," Lucy said, swatting him. "Do you want some apple juice, Dinah? I'll go get you some." She tried to be gentle with her friend. She knew what it was like to battle with an upset stomach. Her battles were usually lost anymore though.

"Thanks," Dinah smiled. "It's worth a try anyway. And I guess I don't always associate apples with apple juice," she told Sirius amiably. She really _was _being quite a trooper with this nausea so far.

Lucy ducked into the kitchen, returning with the juice in short order. "Here you go. Apple juice is second only to actual apples for me."

"Thanks," Dinah smiled gratefully, sitting up very straight and taking a slow, tiny sip of the apple juice. She sighed; "Well, at least we know the potion really wore off. Food isn't appetizing at all right now, but I still feel a little better. It could be psychological, though. I've convinced myself this works."

Lucy grinned; she knew how that was. "I used to be able to do that. I would just refuse to throw up…then I got pregnant and that didn't work anymore."

"Mm," Dinah nodded, her free hand wandering down to her stomach to clutch at it again as she groaned a little; "That's too bad. Since this isn't pregnancy-related I should be okay, I hope. But even if the nausea goes away there's still pain." She managed a laugh; "I never realized my stomach was limited in size until now."

Sirius chuckled, looking over at Severus who was rolling his eyes at his wife. "I bet you never thought you'd hear that from her, huh?"

Severus smirked and nodded; "Perhaps this will be a useful revelation for her."

Lucy reached out and put her hand on Dinah's knee, "Is there anything else you want to do? Obviously dancing's out for now."

"Oh, don't let me stop your fun," Dinah said; "You two can keep dancing if you like. I can always just watch."

Sirius didn't give her a chance to answer and just swept her up into another waltz. This time though, he held her a little closer.

"Okay, now I feel weird, like everyone's staring at us," Lucy told the room. It was awkward slow-dancing around the living room while Dinah and Severus sat there watching them.

Dinah laughed; "Well, I won't force you to dance either. It's nice to just listen to the music, though - ughhh," she moaned again, burying her head in Severus's shoulder, "Make it stop."

He sighed; "I told you this was going to happen."

Sirius twirled her one final time before allowing them to stop. "You should probably get used to people staring at you. They're going to be doing a lot of that in a couple months."

"Don't remind me," Lucy said, plopping down on the floor.

Dora, who had been hiding for the last few hours, decided to come out and shove her way in-between Dinah and Severus, rubbing against them both.

"Kitty," Dinah's arms locked around Dora in a death grip; "Fuzzy cats always make you feel better when you're sick," she said in explanation to Lucy's look.

"Really? Because she's been running from me every morning," Lucy teased.

"Here," Sirius said, waving his wand, making books float over to them, "Read your new book. Maybe a quiet evening reading will help Dinah."

"Maybe," Dinah agreed, smiling and selecting a book from the top of the pile, "Thanks."

"Let me see if I've got this straight," Severus smirked again; "To make you feel better you need apple juice, fuzzy cats, and quiet reading?"

"And you," Dinah said, snuggling back into his shoulder with her arms still full of cat, juice, and book; "I need you now, too." She sighed and whispered against his neck, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be like that," Severus's voice was gentler as he smoothed his wife's hair, moving it so that it was draped over her shoulder and out of her way; "I shouldn't have given in to you so easily."

"But I was being annoying. I know I was," Dinah sighed; "I don't know what's with me lately."

Sirius smirked, "Probably something to do with all those protections spells you didn't use."

"Yes, but it _does_ seem to have increased ever since yesterday," Severus said.

Dinah frowned; "I guess something about finding out I was pregnant in combination with finally telling you about it gave me some sort of subconscious green-light to start going crazy with symptoms? It doesn't sound like a very good excuse." She released Dora, who was starting to squirm.

"Oh, no," Lucy denied, "I think up until you find out, you're repressing your hormones. After you find out you're pregnant it's like you've gotten permission to be the crazed person you've been feeling like."

Dinah giggled; "Being around friends in the same state also helps to 'loosen you up', so to speak. What _are _these poor men going to do with us all next year when we're back at Hogwarts?"

"I imagine the house elves will help tremendously but there's always Snuffles and/or hiding out in the forest. Then again, maybe we'll start an 'our wives are insane pregnant people' men's club," Sirius suggested.

"With only two members?" Severus raised an eyebrow; "Unless you know something about the other faculty that I don't."

"Who knows what Flitwick and Binns have been up to over the summer? Hagrid too, I suppose. I heard he and Madame Maxime were getting quite close. Those are the only other male professors, aren't they? Hmmm, seems like you're in pretty rarified company there, Severus."

"You forget Slughorn and Firenze," Severus said, frowning; "The ratio is approximately fifty-fifty, actually."

"And don't forget Sirius's replacement," Dinah grinned at her husband, who growled in response and looked as surly as ever.

"My replacement?" Sirius asked, looking genuinely confused.

"I think she means that teaching position," Lucy said, shifting so that her head rested in Sirius's lap and she could read from a comfortably reclined position.

"No, no," Dinah said; "Though I guess I wasn't clear. I was talking about Eugene, Sirius's replacement as Severus's new arch-nemesis."

Lucy giggled, "Oh, right."

"Well, Eugene can't possibly have my redeeming qualities," Sirius grinned. "Then again, he's probably our best shot at another member for our club…"

"Oh yes, especially now that he has that endearing scar." Dinah laughed, "Oh, and we almost forgot _my_ arch-nemesis. But I doubt you can even consider him a candidate. Unless Mrs. Norris is about to have kittens and has been biting him a lot lately."

Lucy shuddered, "I don't even want to think about either of them being involved in a pregnancy."

"Mm, good point," Dinah sighed, frowning down at her stomach and taking another sip of apple juice before settling down more comfortably against Severus and opening the book she had picked.

"Don't worry, Dinah. You're not showing yet," Lucy teased and turned back to the book her wonderfully thoughtful fiancé had bought for her just the other day.

Dinah laughed as Severus opened the potions book he had purchased; "You know very well that's not what I was looking at. But it _will_ be interesting when we start to show. You know, we should probably be reading books about pregnancy!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if we had some around here," Sirius said.

"Actually, I _don't_. I wonder if Muggle books differ at all. We could probably go and…maybe I'd better not. Word does tend to get around Hogsmeade and I can only hope Rosmerta and Madam Puddifoot haven't spread it all ready."

"Ahh. Well, could you buy some in Diagon Alley then?" Dinah asked, "Or do people know you there, too? Worst scenario I could buy some of both types and owl them to you to read."

Sirius fell backwards laughing, and Lucy reached up above her head to smack at him. "Don't be rude," she scolded. "The workers in Flourish and Blotts do. At least they used to. I suppose they've probably gotten some summer help that wouldn't know me, though. I could always tell them, at either place, that I'm buying the book for a recently married friend who, even more recently, found out she was expecting."

"Well, that would be true," Dinah said, looking a little embarrassed at Sirius's laughter. She took another sip of apple juice.

"Look, now you've upset Dinah!" Lucy frowned at Sirius, her mood taking an abrupt nose-dive.

"Sorry," he apologized, "It's just that if she's not at home, this one or Grimmauld Place, she's most likely chatting up the clerks at the closest bookstore."

"I see. I guess that makes sense."

Assured that Dinah was not crushed by Sirius's laughter, Lucy snuggled down some more and set to reading her book. Perhaps it was the pregnancy or maybe she'd just had a long day, but after about two pages the words started to blur, her eyes closed, and she fell asleep.

* * *

><p>"Well," Sirius said, looking over at the quietly reading couple on the couch, "I think we've found another pregnancy symptom. Lucy now falls asleep in the middle of turning a page." He inclined his head towards Lucy who was still holding the book upright in front of her, her hand holding a page turned three-quarters of the way over.<p>

"Oh," Dinah said, looking up and quietly laughing; "You should probably move her hand there. One thing I _do_ know is that if she accidentally bends that page she won't be happy. And she might try to blame you for it."

Sirius chuckled, "Probably." He leaned forward to gently pry the precious book out of his lover's grasp. "It's not too late," he said, waving his wand and turning the music down a hair, "so I'll just let her sleep here for now." He started to shift to lie down completely, but thought better of it. "Would it bother you if I lie down and let her squirm her way up? It's just she likes to sleep with her head on my chest," he said, patting the place above his heart. Lucy had once confessed she liked listening to its reassuring beat.

Dinah smiled indulgently and Severus looked indifferent; "Of course it won't bother us. Will it, Sev?"

Her husband shrugged and grunted agreement, turning the page in his beloved potions book. He was going to have the whole thing finished by tomorrow, Sirius was sure. How the other man could read such boring material with such interest he had no idea.

Sirius settled down to his own book, Lucy's head resting on his hip. After only about ten minutes of reading about the Goblin Wars (a much more interesting version than Binns had ever told), Lucy's head was exactly where he'd predicted it would be. He probably should have mentioned that she also used to climb on top of him and sleep that way but she'd been doing that less and less over the year. In fact, her arm was just resting on his stomach now, instead of the death grip of the past.

Every so often she made little, squeaky moaning sounds. They were familiar sounds to him, but he didn't think they were anything that would be embarrassing later.

One of his hands reached down to stroke her hair. "She didn't take the potion. Do you think I should wake her up and have her take some? I don't want her to be miserable through this…I mean…well," he sighed, "Was it really just yesterday we found out we were going to be parents?"

Severus looked a little awestruck or confused by the word 'parents', while Dinah smiled; "I think it was."

"If you intend to sleep in your bed at some point tonight," Severus began, "then when you transport her perhaps you could wake her? I trust you don't intend to stay there all night."

Sirius gave his old enemy a half-smile, "It wouldn't be the first time, but it would probably be better to sleep in a real bed." He lay there for awhile, stroking Lucy's hair and thinking about how his life was soon going to change. "James would be laughing his ass off right now," he murmured. "Don't tell Lucy this; I don't think she'd find it funny, but he always told me I wouldn't get married until I ended up getting a girl pregnant."

Severus half-smiled as well, while Dinah chuckled; "I can see where he might have come up with the idea," said the former.

Sirius shrugged, "What can I say? I was blessed with good looks and a winning personality. I took advantage of it."

His old enemy snorted; "I recall."

"Have you…" he hesitated to ask, "Have you been to see them since…?"

Severus sighed, closing his potions book and tugging his wife a little closer to him; "I went. Once. Shortly before Potter came to Hogwarts. Ultimately it was not a good experience for me. I didn't go back."

"Ah," Sirius shifted, earning him a grunt of disapproval from Lucy, "I took Lucy. She cried, didn't want to go, but that was less about Lily and James and more about my grave being there."

"Oh," Dinah frowned; "I suppose that makes sense, though. You were... 'gone' for two years. They put up a memorial headstone for you, then?"

"Yes. It's nothing fancy, but it's there. When we went over Christmas break was apparently the first time Lucy had seen it. They put it up while she was…gone."

"Yes. The Order arranged for it," Severus admitted.

Dinah sighed; "I wish she had told you sooner, Sirius. It must be difficult to just be finding that out. I can't imagine what it must have been like for her," her eyes landed on Lucy; "torn away from everyone who could _really_ help her."

"It's _infuriating_," he said, doing his best not to wake Lucy just yet. "Not that she didn't tell me, though that's hard too, but that it happened at all. I don't get how a parent could do that to their child; how someone could want to do that to her. Look at her. There is _nothing_ about her that could make you want to hurt her like that. Nothing."

Dinah's pregnancy hormones seemed to choose this moment to make her a little emotional; "No, Sirius. No, there isn't. It's horrible. I can completely understand why you want to go after that man. Oh, but please don't. The greatest damage he did was to Lucy's fear of people abandoning her. Not that you _would_ go after him or anything, I'm just... saying." She sighed and set down her now-empty glass of apple juice. Sirius was also surprised to see unhidden sympathy for Lucy in Severus's gaze.

"Oh, I won't. She means more to me than that. It's just aggravating, not being able to _do_ anything."

"Understandable," Severus frowned; "But I have a feeling eventually you _will _get the opportunity to do... something."

Dinah nodded; "I was thinking the same thing. Her father may seem to have disappeared for now or to be ignoring her, but...I don't think he's gone. I think she'll have to face him at least one more time. And what you do or say when the opportunity presents itself...could make a _huge_ difference. Of course, I imagine Lucy will have to make some important decisions at that time too."

Sirius nodded his agreement and sighed, "I suppose I should rouse her enough to get her upstairs. You guys feel free to stay down here as long as you want. It's still not that late really."

"Sure," Dinah agreed. "My stomach feels a lot better now, so I might try to finish up these next couple of chapters. This book is interesting." She smiled, "I'm glad I didn't throw up."

"As am I," Severus agreed, lightly kissing her temple; "However, _this will not happen again_," he hissed in a warning tone.

Sheepishly, Dinah nodded; "I promise I won't take it anymore unless I'm not hungry. Although, really, couldn't you make it strawberry-flavored or something? Ick!"

He smirked; "One of the key ingredients overpowers all other flavorings. I am afraid it's impossible."

Dinah heaved a dramatic sigh, but nodded.

Sirius chuckled and nudged Lucy; "Come on, Lu. Time to wake up."

Lucy growled, but her eyes cracked open.

"I can carry you upstairs but I can't take your potion for you," he said, levering the pair of them up. Come on." She didn't respond but was awake enough for him to guide her upstairs to take her potion. "Good night," he told the other couple before disappearing upstairs.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Dinah and Severus entered their guest room after finishing their nightly shower, and some definite playing of 'don't drop the soap' as Sirius had so eloquently put the evening before. Dinah actually felt better doing so as a guest in the shower than in the bed, although thankfully Lucy had not seemed annoyed at their behavior last night. As Severus had said, their hosts had pretty much told them to do it anyway.

Feeling clean and satisfied as she put on her silky purple nighttime robes, Dinah said; "Well, today was… interesting."

"Which parts of it?" Severus asked, his tone sarcastic as he put his own nighttime robes on.

"Well, it was a pretty full day. The drama of the morning, followed by the conversation with Minerva over teaching, followed by the appetite stimulant incident. I actually think we had a very nice conversation with Sirius tonight, too."

"It was surprisingly reasonable," Severus admitted.

Dinah grinned, "While you were gone we talked a little about the hitting incident again. That topic seems to be all the rage this visit. Apparently I still freak him out a little bit because of it."

That got Severus to grin.

"Oh, don't look so happy about it!" Dinah laughed, walking forward to loop her arms around her husband's waist. "You must love having such a vicious wife, huh?"

"Oh yes, you are very threatening," he teased, then smiled. "I simply appreciate your ability to stand up for what you feel, and the fire and conviction that often goes along with your empathy. It has opened my eyes to how those traits can be strengths and not weaknesses."

Feeling flattered, Dinah snuggled close before releasing him and moving into bed. "Thanks for the potions, by the way. I hope Lucy's gets her through the night."

"Hopefully."

"Sorry again for…um…you know," Dinah blushed. She really _did _feel guilty about the whole appetite-stimulant incident. "Thinking back on my actions, I was really behaving childishly. I hope I'm not like that throughout the whole pregnancy."

Severus sighed; "I hope so, too. Though, thinking back on it, at least with your appetite issue the signs were all there. You _have _been declining dessert a lot more often than usual lately."

"Mm. I guess you're right. I never imagined I could be pregnant, though. I even lost track of the fact that I missed a period. How stupid is that?"

"'Stupid' is a strong word," he smiled slightly.

She sighed; "Oh well. We have an adventure ahead of us. At least I have no morning sickness yet. If I'm lucky it'll stay away. If not you can make me some of that potion and I'll reward you for it like Lucy did," she teased.

"Oh, I hope you reward me with more than just that," he said, and then sighed; "That was just…I don't even know. First the two hugs and then _that_…" he frowned, his face turning a bit red.

Dinah giggled, "You're blushing."

"I am not!"

"Yes you are, silly. You were kissed by a pretty girl. Of course you are."

"Shut up."

"I will not!" she feigned indignance, and then grinned at his sour expression; "Oh, come on. Admit it. You like being liked. It's okay. Everybody does."

He grumbled incoherently for awhile and Dinah was just about to give up torturing him for the time being and drop the subject when he grudgingly admitted; "I suppose it's better than _not _being appreciated for the things I did."

She smiled, satisfied by his little bit of progress, and then sighed; "I'm worried about Lucy."

"Mm," he turned on his side to face her; "I know. But the step she took this morning was an important one."

"Still, it's like we told Sirius. It's not over. She's still got a lot to work through, and now that I fully understand the source of all her insecurities it's hard _not _to worry. You were there at the actual time, right? When it all happened?"

"Yes. I've already told you how her zombified state was disturbing even to the me from those days. Likewise, her father's actions angered me even then. Yet, I was not in the position nor did I have the desire to do anything about it."

"It's okay…you had your own things to deal with at the time." Dinah sighed, resting her forehead on his chest as she fingered his robes; "Still, it makes me think. I mean, at least you and Sirius and I can understand where she's coming from. I think all three of us know that feeling, at least somewhat…"

"And what feeling would that be?" he asked, stroking her shoulder.

She pressed in closer and said quietly; "The 'nobody wants me' feeling."

Severus sighed and his arms moved to hug her; "Yes. We have all felt that."

Dinah had to laugh; "What a useful foursome we are. We collectively have more issues than the _Daily Prophet_."

He chuckled; "I like to think that at least you and I have no more issues."

"True," she smiled, lifting her head to kiss him; "And we are all equipped, at least, to give Lucy the proper type of support and empathy."

"I think we'll all leave that last bit to you," her husband smiled back; "However, yes. She seems to be the last in our group to work through those things. But you shouldn't worry too much. If _I _could do it Lucy certainly can."

"Think we ought to slip her some youthening potion?" Dinah winked.

Laughing, Severus pinned her back to her pillow with another, more insistent kiss; "I think not."

Dinah smiled, tracing her fingers along the back of his neck; "Was it that long ago that we showered?"

"Long enough."

And just like that, Dinah's pride at restricting their affections to the shower and not the bed tonight was effectively eliminated.

* * *

><p>"Mmmm," Lucy said, stretching and encountering the soft form of her fiancé.<p>

"Finally awake?" he whispered, his hand running over her hair.

"Mmmhmm," she might be awake but she had no desire to get out of bed or speak just yet.

"How are you feeling? Potion still working?"

"Yes," she murmured. When she stopped and considered it, though, she changed her mind, "No." She lunged out of bed, throwing the blankets on top of Sirius and running for the upstairs bath.

A moment after she kneeled in front of the toilet, Lucy felt rough hands gently pulling her hair back and keeping it out of the way. In between heaves he rubbed her back and summoned a cool washcloth for her neck. When the retching finally stopped there was a glass of water waiting for her. After a moment Sirius helped her stand and waited while she brushed her teeth. "Thanks," she whispered.

He shrugged, "I got you into this. Besides, I should be helping you."

"Still…thanks." She looked around the bathroom, realizing it was just on the other side of the room where Dinah and Severus were presumably still sleeping. "Do you think I woke them?"

"Mmm," he said, measuring out a dose of her potion and handing it to her. He waited until she took it before saying, "I don't know. Let's go see." He took her hand and led her over to the door where their friends were staying.

Sirius leaned his ear up to the door and grinned, "I hear movement, but don't worry it's nothing dirty. I doubt you woke them. Now," he said, and pulled her over so she was between him and the door. He kissed her, pulled back and grinned, "Good morning."

Lucy giggled, starting to feel better already, and pulled him to her for a second kiss.

When the door supporting them opened, the startled pair stumbled, falling back on the still moving door before tumbling to the floor. Stunned, Lucy looked up to see Dinah standing over them. "Hi," she said, giggling again.

"Good morning," Dinah raised the Snape-like eyebrow she seemed to be perfecting lately; "Or at least, it seems to be good for you two anyway."

It was at that moment that Severus chose to walk out of the bathroom and his gaze landed on them. They were faced with another raised eyebrow as he said; "Exactly what do we have here, then?"

"Sorry," Lucy said, blushing and hiding beneath Sirius.

"You have two people lying on the floor because your wife didn't knock before opening the door," Sirius said, teasing the other man, and Dinah, about knocking, before getting up and helping Lucy to stand.

"I see," Severus smirked; "And you were using our door for what exactly?"

Dinah chuckled; "I think they were just kissing. Still, if you want me to knock you ought to put a sign up or something."

Lucy's blush intensified, "We were just checking to see if you were up."

"Lu was afraid she woke you," Sirius clarified.

Dinah shook her head; "I didn't hear anything."

"I told you I didn't think you woke them," Sirius said, kissing her cheek.

"Well, excuse me. It's nearly impossible to vomit quietly and, as you so aptly pointed out earlier, you got me this in situation."

"Oh, you're sick again?" Dinah frowned.

"Well, I suppose it makes sense. The potion only lasts six hours; I slept longer than that. I've taken the potion again though and I'm already feeling better. If this is as bad as it's going to get I can handle it."

"I'm sorry," Severus said, looking sincere for him. "If there was a way to extend the life of the potion beyond that length of time I would, but there currently isn't. I can keep working at it, though."

Lucy shook her head, grateful for the offer. "That's all right. That is, you don't have to work on it. I won't stop you of course, but don't feel like you have to do it just for me."

"Well, we'll see what time permits," he frowned, seeming to give the whole thing a bit more consideration than Lucy would have expected.

Dinah smiled; "So, are you up for breakfast, then?"

"Something bland for you," Sirius ordered, pulling Lucy out of the doorway to let the other couple out of their bedroom.

"French toast?" she asked. She really did love French toast but got to eat it so rarely…maybe that's why she liked it so much.

"Maybe a little," he said, pulling her into his side.

"But I feel fine and…and I could always take Dinah's appetite stimulant."

"No!" both men shouted at once.

"All right," she mumbled, "Can I at least have apple juice?"

"I'm not denying you the French toast but if you want apple juice have some apple juice."

"I want French toast!" Dinah said decidedly.

"See? Dinah wants French toast too! As the pregnant ones I think we should get to choose," Lucy crossed her arms, descending the stairs.

"Well, I don't mean to be rude or anything but give Dinah a minute. She'll probably change her mind about being hungry," Sirius countered.

"Nope, not this time," Dinah said, grinning broadly. "I'm sure of it. I need to regain my energy after last..." she blushed, gave a little cough, and turned away.

Lucy bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I think after last night I've recovered all my energy," she finally said, "I have a vague memory of taking the potion but I've still no idea how I got into these," she said, indicating her nighttime robes which weren't flannel but probably meant the same thing to Sirius.

Dinah smiled, still looking a little embarrassed while her husband looked a little perturbed, but she nodded. "You were quite literally out last night."

Laughing, Lucy said, "I must have been. I don't even remember reading that book at all." She and Dinah sat at the kitchen table, leaving the task of preparing breakfast to the men.

Sirius chuckled, "I'm not sure you did. You fell asleep in the middle of turning a page; which was saved from any bending."

"That was my suggestion," Dinah said, looking quite proud of herself.

"Much appreciated," Lucy smiled. Her friend obviously knew how well she treated her books. They were practically her children. "Are you sure the both of you have to leave today? I know you said in your last letter you did, but we'd really like you to stay."

"Thanks," Dinah grinned. "We'd love to stay, too. But I shouldn't leave the animals for much longer and Rosa talked about potentially having a get-together over the next couple of days. Oh, and you know what? I should contact my parents and let them know about your wedding invite so we can start thinking about getting them to Hogwarts again."

"They're coming to Lucy's wedding?" Severus asked, looking just a bit surprised.

"Oh. Yes, I forgot to tell you," Dinah admitted. "Lucy wants to invite them. She just told me yesterday."

Lucy giggled, "Yes, and Aunt Mildred is probably coming too. I'm sure you're thrilled, Severus."

"That woman is coming, too?" he nearly shouted.

Dinah burst out laughing; "Sorry, love. Lucy wants her there."

"Keep her away from me," Severus growled.

Dinah smiled; "Well, I think she'll probably be more interested in Lucy and Sirius since they are the ones getting married this time."

"I'm not so sure," Severus looked positively paranoid. "I have a bad feeling about that woman."

"Oh, come now. I find her amusing."

"I find her a little nosy," Sirius said.

"Don't be rude. That's Dinah's aunt you're talking about," Lucy scolded.

"Oh, I'm not offended," Dinah assured them, her eyes watching as Sirius removed some bread from a cupboard and Severus stood watching the other man collect ingredients. "She _is_ quite nosy. But she's not a bad person. Oh, um... you know, I'm not sure we should let these two try to cook together again," she shot Lucy a grin, "They might not be able to play nicely."

"I think you're right. They already look poised to battle over how long French toast should be cooked," Lucy said, regarding the men. Sirius was mixing the batter for the toast and Severus looked ready to tell him the batter was all wrong.

"Sev," Dinah said decidedly, and her husband raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "Let Sirius do the French toast," she ordered. "You make drinks. I want a mixed fruity concoction. Pumpkin juice with pineapple and hints of strawberry."

"Anything _else_?" her husband nearly sneered, but there was a trace of amusement in his gaze.

"Oooh! Are you making smoothies? Can I have one with strawberries, banana, wild berries, and cherries?"

"What, no apples?" Sirius asked, dipping the toast.

"An apple smoothie? Now that's just weird," Lucy said, wrinkling her nose.

Severus sighed; "I trust you have all of these ingredients floating around somewhere," he addressed the other man, eyeing the toast but holding his tongue on if he thought there was a problem with it or not.

"In the crisper," Sirius said, pointing to the appropriate spot. "We should have most of that. Maybe not a lot of some of them but we should have it nonetheless."

"All right," Severus nodded, and the men set about finishing the meal in silence. As Sirius put a plate of french toast in the center of the table Severus placed a glass of orange-colored juice down in front of his wife and a more reddish-colored concoction in front of Lucy; "Satisfactory?" he demanded.

Dinah took a sip and smiled; "Quite delicious, though you could have added a _tiny_ bit more strawberry. But thank you," she said, kissing her husband.

Lucy took a bigger drink than Dinah and beamed at Severus, "This is perfect. I think perhaps your second career could be a professional smoothie maker." Setting down her glass, she grabbed three slices of French toast, sprinkled powdered sugar on them, then spread butter and poured syrup on them before taking a bite. "And you," she said, pointing her fork at her fiancé, "could be a professional French toast maker. Maybe you two should open a restaurant together."

"Oh, yes!" Dinah clapped her hands together at the thought while the men just gave each other annoyed looks; "Black and Snape's. Snape and Black's. SiriSev's House of Food!"

Severus looked annoyed; "The idea is ridiculous and that last title is horrible. And why do you keep listing his name first?" he pointed an accusing finger at Sirius.

"_I_ think SiriSev's is a fabulous name," Lucy said, her smile growing wider, "Black and Snape is just simply an alphabetic choice. As for SiriSev…well, I think it just sounds better than SevSiri, but who am I to judge? It is your restaurant, after all."

"But we can be the managers," Dinah said. "Women are always working behind the scenes of charismatic men. Besides, they'll be too busy with their chef's duties to run the business."

"Very true," Lucy nodded, taking another bite. "I know! They can name it after us! DiLu? Or maybe LuDi?"

"That sounds worse than SiriSev!" Severus protested, slapping a piece of French toast onto his plate. He turned to Sirius; "Their minds are slowly degenerating due to these pregnancies."

Sirius shrugged, "I've had to read multiple letters from Remus about what pregnancy has done to Tonks's brain so I was sort of expecting it. Wait till they start forgetting things."

"I don't want to," Severus said stubbornly, and then raised an eyebrow at Lucy; "Your fiancée is already starting to turn into my wife with that appetite."

Sirius put his hands up in surrender and after a moment took a couple slices of French toast for himself, "I'm not saying a word."

Lucy giggled, "Well, you trying throwing up and see if you're not hungry."

The foursome continued to eat, teasing each other about the restaurant and who was eating how much. Soon, all too soon in Lucy's opinion, the food was gone and the dishes cleaned up. It was time for her friends to leave.

"Thank you so much for having us," Dinah said as they all headed to the door to see the Snapes off. "This was a lot of fun."

Lucy rolled her eyes and giggled a little, "Oh, yes. Mental breakdowns are so much fun."

"Oh, come on!" Dinah chided, placing an encouraging hand on her shoulder; "That was only a tiny part of the visit and besides, it's important that you got through it. I'm glad if we were able to help at all. And it most definitely didn't ruin the visit or anything. We still had a very good time."

Severus gave the tiniest nod; "Thank you for your hospitality."

"You're welcome," Sirius said, returning the nod. It seemed they were back to their 'we're being civil and that's it' stage, but it'd been so much better over this visit that there was hope for the future.

"Thank _you_ for the potion," Lucy said, "It hasn't even been that long and it's helping already."

Severus smiled slightly and nodded again; "Of course. If you require more before school starts, you may owl me."

"I'll be sure to do that," Lucy promised before sighing and turning to Dinah, "I'll write you…soon I'm sure. Maybe we can find a time to come to your place. Though with moving the wedding up everything's likely to be pretty hectic for awhile."

"You are welcome any time," Dinah smiled; "though if you're busy I completely understand. We can always plan a weekend visit or a holiday visit after your wedding is over, too."

"That'd be fun! After all, I have Muggle clothes for now and for when I'm fat," Lucy grinned.

Dinah giggled; "True. We both do. Well... we'd better get going," she came forward and hugged Lucy; "Thanks again."

"You're welcome," Lucy said, hugging Dinah back, "Enjoy your summer and have fun with Rosa."

"I will!" Dinah beamed. "You enjoy the wedding plans and fun with your relatives. Sirius," she extended her hand towards Lucy's fiancé.

"Dinah," Sirius said, taking her hand and shaking it, "It was good to see you."

"You, too," Dinah smiled. "Best of luck over the summer and stock up on apples. Sev will stock up on all foods for me, I'm sure."

"Undoubtedly," Severus muttered, and then extended a hesitant hand towards Sirius; "Ideally, we will both survive the next series of months," he offered instead of a 'good-bye'.

"I certainly hope so. Otherwise we won't have much of a chance to antagonize each other," Sirius said in the same manner Severus had, briefly shaking the other man's hand.

Lucy rolled her eyes at her fiancé, "I'm sure you two will be fine."

"Besides, if the women had it their way we'd open a restaurant," Severus smirked, lowering his hand. His gaze shifted over and became a little cautious as he gave a small nod; "Lucy."

Grinning Lucy assured him, "Yes, you would and it would be wonderful…as long as you don't offer steaks. I'll be sure to owl you if I need anything," she tacked on at the end.

He nodded, moving his hand as though he wasn't sure if he should try to shake hers or not. He was probably terrified of getting another hug, though, so ultimately he just turned to Dinah; "We should probably get going," he said, sliding an arm around his wife's waist.

"Mm," she nodded, looking at Lucy, "Thanks again. I'll see you at the beginning of the year if not sooner. Best of luck with everything."

"Thanks, you too," she paused for a moment before lurching forward and wrapping her arms around the couple as best she could. Behind her she could hear Sirius laughing.

Severus cleared his throat and awkwardly patted her shoulder, "Yes, well, good-bye."

Dinah giggled and half-hugged Lucy from her end; "Have a great summer."

"We will," Lucy smiled, letting go of the couple, "Fly safe."

"Thanks, we will," with a wave and a pleased smile at her awkwardly half-smiling husband, Dinah pulled Severus through the door Lucy had opened and the other couple left to finish up the rest of their summer.

Lucy closed the door behind them, turned and sighed, using the door for support. "I'm glad they came," she told Sirius.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed, "If they hadn't come you probably never would have told me about St. Mungo's and you'd still be worrying about the baby."

"I'm sure I would have told you eventually," she insisted, "I just didn't know how and ….I didn't want you treating me like most of the Order did either."

"I could never do that," he said, pulling her close.

"I know that. Really I do," she said, snuggling into his chest, "I was just so scared that you would."

"I know," they stood there together for a moment before he said, "Promise me you won't keep anything like this from me again."

"I won't," Lucy said.

* * *

><p>AN: Thanks everyone for reading and your wonderful reviews! If you're interested in reading more there's going to be one more chapter of Don't Leave Me before that story is finished and then I will be posting a sequel that will have plenty of Severus and Dinah in it, but focus mainly on Lucy and Sirius. I have yet to come up with a good title for it so I'm not sure what it will be called just yet but please keep your eyes out for it soon.


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